Rationality (course)

The Course

This course is about

• why we do what we do,
• why the things we do are not always in our best interest,
• and what to do about this.

The 15 Lessons

1. 1
   

   The Selfish Gene (Popular Science) (368 pages)

   

   By Richard Dawkins. Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of _The Selfish Gene_. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we ...

    
2. 2
   

   The Moral Animal : Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology (Vintage) (496 pages)

   

   By Robert Wright. An accessible introduction to the science of evolutionary psychology and how it explains many aspects of human nature. Unlike many books on the topic,which focus on abstractions like kin selection, this book focuses on Darwinian explanations of why we are the way we are--emotionally and morally. ...

    
3. 3
   

   The Robot's Rebellion : Finding Meaning in the Age of Darwin (374 pages)

   

   By Keith E. Stanovich. The idea that we might be robots is no longer the stuff of science fiction; decades of research in evolutionary biology and cognitive science have led many esteemed thinkers and scientists to the conclusion that, following the precepts of universal Darwinism, humans are merely the hosts for two ...

    
4. 4
   

   Rational Choice in an Uncertain World : The Psychology of Judgement and Decision Making (392 pages)

   

   By Reid Hastie, Robyn M. Dawes. When faced with an important decision, we are often on our own to think through what we might do and what the probable consequences of out behaviors are. As we make these judgments, it is important that we be able to communicate precisely and fluently with one another. In *Rational Choice in an ...

    
5. 5
   

   SL4 Wiki: TheSimpleTruth (5442 words)

   http://sl4.org/wiki/TheSimpleTruth

    
6. Show all 15 lessons

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