"Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we’ll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena."
— Cohen, Patricia
Author
Date
June 14, 2011
Metaphor
"Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we’ll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena."
Metaphor in Context
Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments. Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we’ll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena. According to this view, bias, lack of logic and other supposed flaws that pollute the stream of reason are instead social adaptations that enable one group to persuade (and defeat) another. Certitude works, however sharply it may depart from the truth.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Patricia Cohen, "Reason Seen More as Weapon Than Path to Truth," New York Times, June 14, 2011. <Link to nytimes.com>
Date of Entry
06/15/2011
