If we're home alone on a dark, stormy night and hear a door creaking open in the other room, our first reaction is fear that it might be an intruder, not the thought that it's just the wind blowing the door open. We have, explains anthropologist Scott Atran, “a naturally selected cognitive mechanism for detecting agents—such as predators, protectors, and prey.” It's clear how this served a powerful evolutionary purpose: there's no harm in mistaking the wind for an intruder, but mistaking an intruder for the wind could cost you your life.23
Anthropomorphic .thunderclap
