[ExI] evolution and crazy thinking

William Flynn Wallace foozler83 at gmail.com
Sat Jul 14 15:10:07 UTC 2018


Pondering for the nth time about why humans got so far with all the crazy,
illogical cognitive gadgets that inhabit our forebrains.  I have repeatedly
mentioned to this group the cognitive errors or biases listed in Wikipedia.

Not being any kind of expert on evolution, I want someone(s) to explain
just how evolution can explain these unfortunate thinking errors.

I do know that not everything we have, mentally or physically, is the best
possible.  In fact we might have some features that have worked against our
survival, but we made it anyway.  Many others, I assume, are just neutral -
neither helping us or hurting our survival.

But it is hard for me to understand how mental errors that distort reality,
some in major ways, could have gotten through.

Here is a list, which will probably grow with more research.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

Ideas?

bill w
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