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Mo­ti­vated Reasoning

TagLast edit: May 12, 2022, 2:50 PM by leplen

Motivated Reasoning is a label for various mental processes that lead to desired conclusions regardless of the veracity of those conclusions.

Related: Confirmation Bias, Rationalization, Self-deception

Notable Posts

See also

Forc­ing your­self to keep your iden­tity small is self-harm

Gordon Seidoh WorleyApr 3, 2021, 2:03 PM
40 points
10 comments2 min readLW link

Fake Justification

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 1, 2007, 3:57 AM
124 points
59 comments3 min readLW link

Beliefs as emo­tional strategies

Kaj_SotalaApr 9, 2021, 2:28 PM
70 points
4 comments8 min readLW link

One Ar­gu­ment Against An Army

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 15, 2007, 6:39 PM
106 points
37 comments2 min readLW link

The Proper Use of Doubt

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 6, 2007, 8:29 PM
91 points
35 comments3 min readLW link

So­cial Im­pact, Effec­tive Altru­ism, and Mo­ti­vated Cognition

JonahSJun 8, 2013, 2:31 AM
16 points
20 comments2 min readLW link

A Pro­cess for Deal­ing with Mo­ti­vated Reasoning

Vaughn PapenhausenSep 3, 2018, 3:34 AM
15 points
7 comments3 min readLW link

Is That Your True Re­jec­tion?

Eliezer YudkowskyDec 6, 2008, 2:26 PM
159 points
100 comments3 min readLW link

Crav­ing, suffer­ing, and pre­dic­tive pro­cess­ing (three char­ac­ter­is­tics se­ries)

Kaj_SotalaMay 15, 2020, 1:21 PM
90 points
56 comments19 min readLW link

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Z_M_DavisApr 12, 2009, 5:30 PM
40 points
44 comments2 min readLW link

Belief as Attire

Eliezer YudkowskyAug 2, 2007, 5:13 PM
132 points
105 comments2 min readLW link

Belief in Belief

Eliezer YudkowskyJul 29, 2007, 5:49 PM
214 points
177 comments5 min readLW link

Strate­gic ig­no­rance and plau­si­ble deniability

Kaj_SotalaAug 10, 2011, 9:30 AM
62 points
59 comments4 min readLW link

[Valence se­ries] 3. Valence & Beliefs

Steven ByrnesDec 11, 2023, 8:21 PM
75 points
11 comments21 min readLW link

In­tegrity and ac­countabil­ity are core parts of rationality

habrykaJul 15, 2019, 8:22 PM
165 points
68 comments6 min readLW link1 review

“You can’t pos­si­bly suc­ceed with­out [My Pet Is­sue]”

RaemonDec 19, 2019, 1:12 AM
53 points
14 comments1 min readLW link

The Hip­pie Rab­bit Hole -Nuggets of Gold in Rivers of Bullshit

Jonathan MoregårdJan 5, 2024, 6:27 PM
37 points
20 comments8 min readLW link
(honestliving.substack.com)

Im­mod­esty, De­ceit and Mo­ti­vated Reasoning

whpearsonOct 29, 2017, 10:34 AM
7 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

[Link] Ide­ol­ogy, Mo­ti­vated Rea­son­ing, and Cog­ni­tive Reflec­tion: An Ex­per­i­men­tal Study

[deleted]Dec 2, 2012, 2:43 PM
24 points
8 comments1 min readLW link

LINK: Study demon­strates poli­ti­cally mo­ti­vated innumeracy

Alejandro1Sep 4, 2013, 6:14 PM
24 points
3 comments1 min readLW link

Mul­ti­ple Fac­tor Ex­pla­na­tions Should Not Ap­pear One-Sided

Stefan_SchubertAug 7, 2014, 2:10 PM
55 points
32 comments6 min readLW link

Fake Op­ti­miza­tion Criteria

Eliezer YudkowskyNov 10, 2007, 12:10 AM
73 points
21 comments3 min readLW link

Is RL in­volved in sen­sory pro­cess­ing?

Steven ByrnesMar 18, 2021, 1:57 PM
21 points
21 comments5 min readLW link

A brief re­view of The Scout Mindset

Adam ZernerAug 26, 2021, 8:47 PM
14 points
0 comments3 min readLW link
(www.goodreads.com)

The hor­ror of what must, yet can­not, be true

Kaj_SotalaJun 2, 2022, 10:20 AM
53 points
18 comments2 min readLW link
(kajsotala.fi)

Truth seek­ing is mo­ti­vated cognition

Gordon Seidoh WorleyOct 7, 2022, 7:19 PM
6 points
39 comments3 min readLW link

Notes on Fairness

David GrossDec 7, 2020, 6:52 PM
20 points
4 comments8 min readLW link

You’re En­ti­tled to Ar­gu­ments, But Not (That Par­tic­u­lar) Proof

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 15, 2010, 7:58 AM
88 points
229 comments8 min readLW link

Miss­ing the Trees for the Forest

Scott AlexanderJul 22, 2009, 3:23 AM
87 points
159 comments7 min readLW link

What Can We Learn About Hu­man Psy­chol­ogy from Chris­tian Apolo­get­ics?

ChrisHallquistOct 21, 2013, 10:02 PM
66 points
162 comments8 min readLW link

Fre­quently Asked Ques­tions for Cen­tral Banks Un­der­shoot­ing Their In­fla­tion Target

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 29, 2017, 11:36 PM
60 points
30 comments35 min readLW link

Si­mul­ta­neously Right and Wrong

Scott AlexanderMar 7, 2009, 10:55 PM
116 points
63 comments3 min readLW link

The Statis­ti­cian’s Fallacy

ChrisHallquistDec 9, 2013, 4:48 AM
63 points
69 comments3 min readLW link

Scout Mind­set and Lat­ter-Day Saint Apostasy

Erich_GrunewaldOct 23, 2021, 2:18 PM
21 points
1 comment18 min readLW link
(www.erichgrunewald.com)

A pos­si­ble check against mo­ti­vated rea­son­ing us­ing elicit.org

david reinsteinMay 18, 2022, 8:52 PM
3 points
0 comments1 min readLW link

Mo­ti­vated Stop­ping and Mo­ti­vated Continuation

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 28, 2007, 11:10 PM
91 points
8 comments3 min readLW link

Ex­pert trap: What is it? (Part 1 of 3) – how hind­sight, hi­er­ar­chy, and con­fir­ma­tion bi­ases break con­duc­tivity and ac­cu­racy of knowledge

Paweł SysiakJun 9, 2023, 11:00 PM
6 points
2 comments8 min readLW link

Belief in Belief vs. Internalization

DesrtopaNov 29, 2010, 3:12 AM
45 points
59 comments2 min readLW link

Cyn­i­cal About Cynicism

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 17, 2009, 12:49 AM
72 points
27 comments2 min readLW link

Ex­pert trap: Why is it hap­pen­ing? (Part 2 of 3) – how hind­sight, hi­er­ar­chy, and con­fir­ma­tion bi­ases break con­duc­tivity and ac­cu­racy of knowledge

Paweł SysiakJun 9, 2023, 11:00 PM
3 points
0 comments7 min readLW link

Be­ware Iso­lated De­mands For Rigor

Scott AlexanderSep 2, 2017, 7:50 PM
119 points
6 comments8 min readLW link

De­mands for Par­tic­u­lar Proof: Appendices

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 15, 2010, 7:58 AM
40 points
70 comments7 min readLW link

The Truth about Scots­men, or: Dis­solv­ing Fallacies

TesseractDec 5, 2010, 9:57 PM
37 points
36 comments3 min readLW link

Ex­plain­ing why false ideas spread is more fun than why true ones do

Matthew BarnettNov 24, 2019, 8:21 PM
31 points
6 comments1 min readLW link

Tool ideology

PhilGoetzSep 9, 2011, 10:37 PM
36 points
66 comments2 min readLW link

Over­con­fi­dent Pessimism

lukeprogNov 24, 2012, 12:47 AM
37 points
38 comments4 min readLW link

Ra­tion­al­iza­tion Max­i­mizes Ex­pected Value

Kevin DorstJul 30, 2023, 8:11 PM
19 points
10 comments7 min readLW link
(kevindorst.substack.com)

The Think­ing Lad­der—Wait But Why

LironSep 29, 2019, 6:51 PM
19 points
1 comment1 min readLW link
(waitbutwhy.com)

Would You Slap Your Father? Ar­ti­cle Link­age and Discussion

AnnoyanceJun 2, 2009, 6:49 PM
2 points
11 comments1 min readLW link

Overly con­ve­nient clusters, or: Be­ware sour grapes

KnaveOfAllTradesSep 2, 2014, 4:04 AM
31 points
20 comments4 min readLW link

Two Kinds of Ir­ra­tional­ity and How to Avoid One of Them

ChrisHallquistFeb 2, 2012, 6:13 PM
30 points
9 comments4 min readLW link

Dis­cus­sion: Was SBF a naive util­i­tar­ian, or a so­ciopath?

Nicholas / Heather KrossNov 17, 2022, 2:52 AM
0 points
4 comments1 min readLW link

Undis­crim­i­nat­ing Skepticism

Eliezer YudkowskyMar 14, 2010, 11:23 PM
137 points
1,361 comments9 min readLW link

Al­gorithms of De­cep­tion!

Zack_M_DavisOct 19, 2019, 6:04 PM
23 points
7 comments5 min readLW link

Mo­ti­vated Cog­ni­tion and the Mul­ti­verse of Truth

Q HomeNov 22, 2022, 12:51 PM
8 points
16 comments24 min readLW link

The Mo­ti­vated Rea­son­ing Cri­tique of Effec­tive Altruism

LinchSep 15, 2021, 1:43 AM
27 points
0 comments23 min readLW link
(forum.effectivealtruism.org)

The Power to Judge Startup Ideas

LironSep 4, 2019, 3:07 PM
94 points
28 comments8 min readLW link

Wron­gol­ogy 101

sarahconstantinApr 25, 2018, 12:00 AM
32 points
5 comments7 min readLW link
(srconstantin.wordpress.com)

Just Lose Hope Already

Eliezer YudkowskyFeb 25, 2007, 12:39 AM
144 points
78 comments1 min readLW link

Avoid­ing Your Belief’s Real Weak Points

Eliezer YudkowskyOct 5, 2007, 1:59 AM
176 points
212 comments4 min readLW link

Priv­ileg­ing the Hypothesis

Eliezer YudkowskySep 29, 2009, 12:40 AM
125 points
130 comments5 min readLW link

An Out­side View on Less Wrong’s Advice

Mass_DriverJul 7, 2011, 4:46 AM
84 points
162 comments8 min readLW link

Lifeism in the midst of death

TobyBartelsDec 9, 2012, 1:28 PM
97 points
19 comments4 min readLW link
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