Scientific American Blog - The Irrationality Within Us

A post about how the general assumption has always been that humans can set themselves apart from the animal world and at times, each other) because of our ability to rationalize and reason.  This blog explores the myth surrounding this idea and offers insight into the psychology of decision-making that suggests reason is not our sole influence.

'We like to think of ourselves as special because we can reason and we like to think that this ability expresses the essence of what it is to be human. In many ways this belief has formed our civilization; throughout history, we have used supposed differences in rationality to justify moral and political distinctions between different races, genders, and species, as well as between “healthy” and “diseased” individuals...After decades of research, there is compelling evidence that we are not as rational as we think we are and that, rather than irrationality being the exception, it is part of who we normally are.'

 The Irrationality Within Us

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