Reason Seen More As a Weapon Than a Path To Truth

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 15, 2011 @12:14AM from the welcome-to-the-internet dept.

mdsolar writes with this excerpt from the NY Times: "For centuries thinkers have assumed that the uniquely human capacity for reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perception and reflex in the search for truth. Rationality allowed a solitary thinker to blaze a path to philosophical, moral and scientific enlightenment. Now some researchers are suggesting that reason evolved for a completely different purpose: to win arguments. Rationality, by this yardstick (and irrationality too, but we'll get to that) is nothing more or less than a servant of the hard-wired compulsion to triumph in the debating arena."

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Re:Obligatory.. by nitehawk214 · 2011-06-15 00:46 · Score: 3, Funny

Oh look, this isn't an argument.

--
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Re:SEX AS A WEAPON !! by gomiam · 2011-06-15 00:51 · Score: 2, Funny

You tip her until she falls on her back. Isn't that part of the usual procedure?
Disclaimer: tipping her until she stumbles into a wall can be a substitute.
Disclaimer 2: no unwanted violence in this actions should be implied.
Re:Obligatory.. by turing_m · 2011-06-15 00:58 · Score: 4, Funny

Yes it is.

--
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.