After Skool Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things | After Skool
Sep 15, 2025
Explore the curious phenomenon of why intelligent individuals cling to irrational beliefs. Discover how higher reasoning can actually intensify ideological bias. Learn about the role of elite training in fostering skilled rationalization and how rhetoric can overshadow truth. History provides compelling examples of identity-protective reasoning across various fields. Finally, uncover strategies to combat these biases, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, humility, and self-awareness in our thinking.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Smarter Minds, Stronger Biases
- Intelligence doesn't reduce ideological bias; the smartest show the strongest motivated reasoning.
- High reasoning skill helps people defend preferred beliefs when issues become identity-linked.
Intelligence Serves Goals, Not Truth
- Intelligence is goal-directed and can pursue goals other than truth, like status or belonging.
- Evolution shaped human reasoning to serve social ends, making self-deceptive beliefs adaptive.
Identity-Protective Reasoning Explained
- Identity-protective cognition (IPC) explains how people use reasoning to justify group-aligned beliefs.
- Bright people are especially skilled at rationalizing illusions that protect their identity and status.
