If you look at it as an individual, we are all so flawed, and we are all so bad at reasoning when our interests or our moral values are at stake. We are not going to get better at reasoning and change just by helping individuals to reason better. When you put us together into networks, systems, companies, juries and legislative bodies, we can correct each other’s flawed thinking. The big problem is the confirmation bias. We are all so good at confirming what we want to believe. If there are other people out there to disconfirm it and we have no relationship with them, we just hate them and disagree with them. But if they are members of our company, if they are friends, if they are fellow scientists, [it is different].
I’m a big fan of thinking about institutions as ways to put people together in ways that correct for, or cancel out, our flaws. We see plenty of moral change over time. It’s not because of logic. If you look at, for example, civil rights or interracial marriage, these were disgusting to many people in America 50 years ago. But over time, the attitudes change. It’s not because of arguments; it’s because you get used to it.
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Source: Knowledge@Wharton
Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior, Teamwork, Thought
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