Scientific American has this Michael Shermer essay about struggling with motivated reasoning–<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article.cfm?id=why-we-should-choose-science-over-beliefs<\/a><\/p>\n Give him credit — he struggles with ideological convictions in the light of evidence, and changes his mind. But finds that others at a Libertarian conference are not so flexible.<\/p>\n Here’s a nice essay on Huffington Post by Matthew Hutson, author of a book called The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking<\/b>. It strikes me as a rather simplified version of the argument in Jesse Bering’s The Belief Instinct<\/b><\/a>, currently the best case I’ve seen for taking the human mind’s reasoning biases as explanations for the basic religious\/spiritual inclinations of all human cultures.<\/p>\n www.huffingtonpost.com\/matthew-hutson\/all-paths-lead-to-magical-thinking_b_3942656.html<\/a><\/p>\n I recently re-read Jesse Bering’s book, but will wait to blog about it until I finish David McRaney’s second book — since his psychological cases serve as clinical bases for Bering’s argument.<\/p>\n Andrew Sullivan links to a post about gun control<\/a>, which quotes Jared Diamond’s Collapse<\/b>, about why societies persist in irrational policies…<\/p>\n \nMost of the time, he points out, the simple sunk cost of the irrationality helps it persist: we have always believed this, and to un-believe it is to lose our faith in ourselves.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Which principle applies to say many things about current US policies.<\/p>\n And to unsettle philosophical certainties…<\/p>\n http:\/\/io9.com\/9-philosophical-thought-experiments-that-will-keep-you-1340952809@AnnaleeNewitz<\/a> Scientific American has this Michael Shermer essay about struggling with motivated reasoning– http:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article.cfm?id=why-we-should-choose-science-over-beliefs Give him credit — he struggles with ideological convictions in the light of evidence, and changes his mind. But finds that others at a Libertarian conference are … Continue reading
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