Tuesday, June 19, 2012

You can't get there, from here . . .

THE NEW YORKER has a fine article for you to ponder: Jonah Lehrer posted "Why Smart People Are Stupid" in the Frontal Cortex blog, in which it is noted that research shows that the smarter people are, the more susceptible they are to cognitive bias. Good ol' h.sapiens may at times be a rational animal, but he is always a rationalizing animal, with a capacity for self-deception and wishful thinking that is unique on Earth.

1 comment:

Sixth Estate said...

This post makes a lot of sense, so I assume its chances of becoming government policy are just about zero.

That the Harper regime isn't looking this far forward doesn't surprise me. I'm more curious about the military side. Do they genuinely think the F-35 will still be in use three-plus decades from now, or are they just assuming that when advanced drone aircraft become available in a decade or so it won't be too late to get involved in that sector, too?