Hack 72. Detect Cheaters (3)
It’s been suggested by Cosmides,5 a leading light of evolutionary psychology (the study of how evolution may have shaped the way we think6), that the reason we seem to possess domain-specific logic is because it’s been selected for by evolution over countless generations. Cosmides argues that the really important parts of Cheng and Holyoak’s pragmatic reasoning schemas are those about people. In other words, we are all born with the mental logic required to understand the costs, benefits, and social contracts involved in dealing with other people. It’s a compelling argument, since the ability to make beneficial deals is a valuable survival trait. However, Cosmides’ theory can’t be the whole story, since we have no problem in solving many logic problems that have n
