Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters

by Steven Pinker

in an era blessed with unprecedented resources for reasoning, the public sphere is infested with fake news, quack cures, conspiracy theories, and “post-truth” rhetoric.

we can understand human nature only by considering the mismatch between the environment in which we evolved and the environment we find ourselves in today.

Just as citizens should grasp the basics of history, science, and the written word, they should command the intellectual tools of sound reasoning. These include logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, the optimal ways to adjust our beliefs and commit to decisions with uncertain evidence, and the yardsticks for making rational choices alone and with others.

the distinction between two modes of believing: the reality mindset and the mythology mindset.

Kahneman has observed that humans are never so irrational as when protecting their pet ideas.