According to the first, what we really mean when we say that human beings tell stories and seek coherence is that we do things for reasons. We offer these reasons up to others (and ourselves) in language. This is what it means to be a rational agent rather than a billiard ball that is simply moved by impinging forces, or an animal that lives entirely in the moment. We have this unique tendency to want to justify ourselves, and construct a narrative that conveys the considerations that made an action seem choiceworthy. And sure, this narrative is often self-serving or self-deceptive. But
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