Dethroning consciousness

In the history of the West rationality and reason became king. They stood us apart from the animals but they blinded the best ideas people (the philosophers and economists?); and they created a host of one-key-factor theories that did nothing to prevent social injustice, environmental exploitation, and pollution. Capitalist consumerism was on globalised overdrive and it was not a pretty sight.

And then, in more recent times, psychology took a positive and experimental turn based on evolution and neuroscience. Rationality and reason are being dethroned. They still have an important role to play but it is a much humbler one.

It is now apparent that unconscious intuition has a far more substantial role to play in suiting us to survive and flourish in the modern world.

Ref:

Daniel  Kahneman (2011) Thinking Fast and Slow
“(He) presents a view of how the mind works that draws on recent developments in cognitive and social psychology. One of the more important developments is t hat we now understand the marvels as well as the flaws of intuitive thought.” (p10)

Jonathan Haidt (2012) The Righteous Mind – Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
“Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second. I explained how I came to develop the ‘social intuitionist model’, and I used t he model to challenge the ‘rationalist delusion”’