Think with Pinker

Being right

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Feb 3, 2022
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INSIGHT

Debate Often Becomes Dominance Play

  • Intellectual combat often replaces truth-seeking in debates and online exchanges.
  • People pursue dominance with posture, interruptions and rhetorical tricks instead of testing hypotheses.
INSIGHT

Norms That Encourage Honest Inquiry

  • The rationality community enforces norms of curiosity, politeness and calibrated confidence.
  • Members practise admitting uncertainty and explaining why they hold beliefs instead of declaring facts dogmatically.
ANECDOTE

Galef's Asymmetric Scrutiny

  • Julia Galef found a paper that contradicted her book and at first dismissed it for poor methodology.
  • She then realised she would have accepted the study if it supported her thesis, revealing asymmetric rigor.
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