Kahneman: Independent clear thinking is nearly impossible due to social belief adoption
Daniel Kahneman · Daniel Kahneman: Algorithms Make Better Decisions Than You · Jul 22, 2025 · at 27:40
Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman explains the psychological mechanisms of belief formation and why people rationalize opinions inherited from trusted social peers.
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“I would say that independent, clear thinking is, to a first approximation, impossible. I mean, in the sense that, you know, we believe in things most of the time, not because we have good reasons to believe them. If you ask me for reasons, I'll explain you. I'll always find a reason, but the reasons are not the causes of our beliefs. We have beliefs because mostly we believe in some people, and we trust them, and we adopt their beliefs.”
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