#114 Hugo Mercier: The Enigma of Reason, Modularity, and Cognition
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Dr. Hugo Mercier is a research scientist at the CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Institut Jean Nicod), where he works with the Evolution and Social Cognition team. Most of his work so far has focused on the function and workings of reasoning. Together with Dan Sperber, he wrote a book that develops and extends the argumentative theory of reasoning, called The Enigma of Reason.
In this episode, we focus on The Enigma of Reason, and talk about how reason might have evolved, and its cognitive and social function. We talk a little bit about the notion of the modular mind. Also, how cognition operates at a subconscious level; the conditions in which reason works best; if dual-process theory (the idea of us having two different cognitive systems – one more fast and frugal, and the other more deliberative) makes sense from this new perspective; what really is a “rational” behavior; and why science as a human enterprise works so well.
Time Links:
00:36 How do people perceive threat?
04:38 Fight-or-flight responses
13:04 Threat at the individual and collective levels
17:19 In-group and out-group differences
23:00 Threat in the context of politics and warfare
How people solve reasoning problems
17:16 The social function of reason
20:34 Reason works better when done in groups
24:31 Does dual-process theory (system 1 and system 2) make sense?
27:18 What is it to be rational, from an evolutionary perspective?
29:23 Why does science work so well?
32:06 Follow Dr. Mercier’s work!
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Follow Dr. Mercier’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/yb39w3t4
Personal website: https://tinyurl.com/d2te7pm
The Enigma of Reason: https://tinyurl.com/y8melzua
Twitter handle: @hugoreasoning
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