The Argumentation Hypothesis and the Life of a Ruffled Ferret

Let’s undermine one of the key assumptions of your existence. We aren’t the logic-guided creatures we imagine ourselves to be.

Let’s undermine one of the key assumptions of your existence. We aren’t the logic-guided creatures we imagine ourselves to be.

It’s called the Argumentation Hypothesis. First introduced by the cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber, the theory states that our reasoning capacity evolved for social reasons, to convince others and rationalize our…