Why does arguing help us think better? Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber have their theory: Engaging in active debate puts us in the position of evaluating others’ arguments, not simply constructing (and promoting) our own. Such objective analysis, unclouded by self-interested confirmation bias, makes the most of humans’ discriminating intelligence. But there are additional reasons why confrontations enhance our cognition, reasons that are likewise rooted deep in human nature.
