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| Our Brains Are Not in the Truth Business |
August 14, 2021 |
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Shankar Vedantam defines a “useful delusion” as an untruth we allow ourselves to believe so we can get through the day or accomplish some greater goal. These delusions help make us better parents, better spouses, better citizens, and when they find their way into religion, better believers.
The human mind, Vedantam continues, likes order and meaning. This helps explain why some people latch onto conspiracy theories, the belief that the 2020 election was “illegitimate” and that the current pandemic is not real. He describes some means of gently dismantling these delusions.
Shankar Vedantam. Host of Hidden Brain a weekly podcast, and radio show heard on many public radio stations across the United States, journalist, and author most recently of Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of The Self Deceiving Brain, from W. W Norton and Company.
Useful Delusions
W. W. Norton and Company
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