The Enigma of Reason: A New Theory of Human Understanding

Hugo Mercier; Dan Sperber

Rating:
My review 2017-10-09

A magnificently thought-provoking book. It starts from the question: If rationality is so great, why hasn't evolution furnished it to more than one species, and why has that species (Homo sapiens) got it in such apparently damaged way? Human irrationality is well documented. If rationality is so great, why hasn't it vanquished our more primitive aspects?

I am not going to write about the arguments and conclusions of the book here. I need time to digest it and produce a more reasoned (ha!) text.