How can members of a species that discovered symbolic logic and the double helix also believe that the earth is flat and that Hillary Clinton ran a child-sex ring out of a pizzeria? Human rationality is very much in the news, as we struggle to understand how an era with unpreceded scientific sophistication could harbor so much fake news, conspiracy theorizing, and “post-truth” rhetoric. Rationality has also long been a foundational topic in the academy, including philosophy, psychology, economics, mathematics, and government. Part I of “Rationality” covers the nature of...

Graduate course Advanced survey of research topics in cognition, brain, and behavior. To be given in 2011–12. Limited to first-year doctoral students in Psychology.

What could be more interesting than the human mind? This is not just a first course in psychology but an opportunity to explore some of the deepest and most fascinating issues in intellectual life. Is there such a thing as human nature? How does the activity of the brain result in intelligence...