normative

Intellectual Tribalism Resists Truth

There is an intellectual equivalent of tribalism in which we treat disagreements like Red Sox versus Yankees—it is pleasurable to read arguments supporting beliefs we hold and annoying to encounter challenges—so the ideal of science and intellectual discourse is an arena whose rules make wrong beliefs eventually too embarrassing to hold, but disturbing signs (campus speech restrictions, Internet-fostered conspiracy theories) show the process can worsen.

normativepending

Speaker

Steven Pinker

Evidence Quote

what we want is an arena in which the rules of the game make it so that no matter how emotionally tied you are to your belief, if it’s wrong, it’ll be shown to be wrong and it’ll just be too embarrassing to hold on to it

Source

Steven PinkerConversations with Tyler
Created: 6/13/2026, 3:34:01 AM

My Notes

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