Bias and rationality

Here is a paradox. The human species is evidently highly intelligent. We have not merely adapted to our environment but have shown the ability to control it and alter it in many ways to suit our purposes. We have developed the extraordinarily complex and powerful system of natural language which in itself gives us powers of cognitive representation and communication which far exceed those of any other species on Earth. We store vast amounts of information from which — in contrast with existing computer systems — we can access with the greatest of ease just those parts relevant to our current situation. Our perceptual abilities are perhaps even more astounding, far exceeding those of the most skilfully…