{"id":110664,"date":"2023-08-05T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T19:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=110664"},"modified":"2023-08-16T13:17:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T17:17:57","slug":"what-is-motivated-reasoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-motivated-reasoning\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Motivated Reasoning? Steven Pinker Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is motivated reasoning? Why is it important to be able to recognize it in yourself and others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans, despite our intelligence and ingenuity, often behave irrationally. Steven Pinker explains that people frequently fall victim to cognitive blunders that lead them down an irrational path. One of these blunders is motivated reasoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading Pinker’s advice on how you can overcome this tendency and think more rationally about your choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Motivated Reasoning <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pinker writes that rationality, by itself, is unmotivated<\/em>. That is, a rational line of thought doesn\u2019t desire to end in a certain place but instead follows its logic to wherever its premises and conclusions lead it. However, sometimes a rational line of thought points to an end that the thinker doesn\u2019t desire, like when it\u2019s clear that the fair thing to do in a situation requires the reasoner to do something unpleasant. When this happens, a person might fall back on motivated reasoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is motivated reasoning? Pinker explains that it’s the use of faulty logic to arrive at a desired<\/em> conclusion<\/strong>. We see people engaging in motivated reasoning when, for example, they justify purchasing an extravagant car by saying they like its fuel efficiency. In such a case, their true motivation is that they simply want the car, and they find a reason to justify that desire. We also see motivated reasoning when people choose to ignore certain facts that don\u2019t support their worldview\u2014like when a favored politician does something wrong. And, it\u2019s behind many conspiracy theories, such as when someone who doesn\u2019t want<\/em> to believe in climate change dismisses scientific data as manipulated despite a lack of evidence to that effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pinker says that people engage in motivated reasoning so frequently that it suggests that our instinct to try to win arguments developed in tandem with our ability to reason. We\u2019ve evolved not only to think logically but equally, to convince others of our logic, even when flawed. According to this theory, the evolutionary advantage of this instinct is that it leads to stronger collective<\/em> conclusions\u2014people are eager to pass off weak arguments<\/a> of their own but are quick to point out flaws in the arguments of others, and in doing so, the group as a whole ends up at the right answer<\/strong>. He points to studies that show small groups are better able to arrive at a correct answer than individuals are\u2014as long as one group member can spot the right argument, the others are quickly convinced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Some psychologists take Pinker\u2019s theory even further, suggesting that arguments\u2014attempts to convince others of your point of view, even when flawed\u2014aren\u2019t just a byproduct of reason; they are, in fact, the purpose<\/em> of reason itself<\/a>. In this view, reason didn\u2019t evolve as a way to make better decisions<\/a> but instead, to allow people to evaluate the arguments of others. This allowed for communication to be reliable, which in turn, made possible the development of human societies. This theory suggests, then, that when people bandy around some of the irrational ideas Pinker refers to, such as support for flawed politicians and conspiracy theories, eventually, more rational takes will win out.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is motivated reasoning? Why is it important to be able to recognize it in yourself and others? Humans, despite our intelligence and ingenuity, often behave irrationally. Steven Pinker explains that people frequently fall victim to cognitive blunders that lead them down an irrational path. One of these blunders is motivated reasoning. Continue reading Pinker’s advice on how you can overcome this tendency and think more rationally about your choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":40782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[1127],"class_list":["post-110664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-rationality","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is Motivated Reasoning? 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