our unscientific minds

This week in MotherJones, Chris Mooney does a bang-up job of summarizing many of the cognitive biases and tricks of the mind that keep us from having truly open minds - particularly when it comes to politics.

It's a worthwhile tour through "motivate reasoning," "confirmation bias," "rationalization," "reactance," and the power of social influence. Chris also gets my hearty thanks for pointing out that conservatives and liberals are both subject to bias; for better or worse, no ideological group has cornered the market on reason.