Scientific reasoning is characterized by commitments to evidence and objectivity. New research suggests that under some conditions, people are prone to reject these commitments, and instead sanction motivated reasoning and bias. Moreover, people’s tendency to devalue scientific reasoning likely explains the emergence and persistence of many biased beliefs. However, recent work in epistemology has identified ways in which bias might be legitimately incorporated into belief formation. Researchers can leverage these insights to evaluate when commonsense affirmation of bias is justified and when it is unjustified and therefore a good target for intervention. Making reasoning more scientific may require more than merely teaching people what constitutes scientific reasoning; it may require affirming the value of such reasoning in the first place.

科学推理的特点是对证据和客观性的承诺。新的研究表明，在某些情况下，人们倾向于拒绝这些承诺，而是认可有动机的推理和偏见。此外，人们贬低科学推理的倾向可能解释了许多有偏见的信念的出现和持续存在。然而，最近在认识论方面的工作已经确定了将偏见合法地纳入信念形成的方式。研究人员可以利用这些见解来评估偏见的常识性确认何时是合理的，何时是不合理的，因此是一个很好的干预目标。使推理更科学可能需要的不仅仅是教人们什么是科学推理；它可能首先需要确认这种推理的价值。