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To modern man, reason is a virtue and irrationality, a vice. Irrationality is the privilege of the child, the license of the artist and the shame of the insane. In the mind of the mature, responsible adult there must be no irrationality. Modern man is impressed by the productiveness of science and the magical power of mathematics. He assumes that reason shows and, indeed, is the right way to live and irrationality is immoral. Scientific method seems to be a gimmick which can easily solve all human problems. Modern man forgets that scientific method was developed only after millennia of human thought, that its application requires a rare intellectual honesty and a religious kind of dedication. The successful application of scientific method is really an unusual and noteworthy achievement, rather than a commonplace.
To enumerate all of the areas in which the reasoning process is distorted would be to enumerate all of the areas of human experience. For the purpose of orientation I will mention a few.
In general, people have a tendency to overestimate the probability that their wishes will come true, and to underestimate the probability that their apprehensions will be realized. This is spoken of as “wishful thinking.”
People have a tendency to overestimate the virtues of the people they love. It is difficult, if not impossible, to think really objectively about the members of one's own family. Both the affection and hostility which one extends to one's parents, spouse and children often