“The brain is a story-telling machine not a truth seeking one.”
We’re rationalizers and story-tellers more interested in emotional comfort than the truth. Moreover, the human brain is limited. Perception is subject to numerous errors and memory is unreliable. The most recent cognitive neuroscience research, brilliantly summarized in Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, fast and slow, shows that our thinking is more fast and frugal than logical. The binary brain reduces complexity to very simplified and misleading either/or alternatives and we think of facts as certainties rather than mere probabilities. As a result of these and other factors, our thinking is often limited and driven by emotion and not reason.
“People aren’t logical — they’re psychological, often with the emphasis on the psycho.”
This site explores the way we protect ourselves from emotional discomfort through a variety of defense mechanisms as well as the cognitive biases that are inherent in the human mind. The site is a good starting point for anyone who wants to improve their critical thinking and see the flaws in their own and others’ thinking and decision-making.
If you are interested in improving you or your organization’s thought processes and rationality please contact me through the contact page or at drhrankin@gmail.com. I offer coaching and speaking as well as writing services.
COMING SOON! The book I THINK THEREFORE I AM WRONG
Please sign up for an advance copy via the contact page!