The Logic of Self-Destruction: The Algorithm of Human Rationality

Author: Matthew BlakewayPublisher: Meyer LeBoeuf LimitedPaperback:ISBN 10: 0992796121ISBN 13: 978-0992796129Why do knowingly act in ways that undermine our own wellbeing, like loving the wrong person or staying in an unfulfilling job? Why are ideologies so compelling? Why are we so convinced that our own, deeply held views are irrefutable? The Logic of Self-Destruction argues that our emotions are at the heart of our problems, and that if we can see the human brain for what it really is - a robustly logical, computing device, we can finally understand how those emotions are really formed. Matthew Blakeway's engaging multidisciplinary argument applies a logician's rigour to genetics, linguistics, socio-biology and evolutionary psychology, to investigate the unique human ability to affect and suppress emotional behaviour. In showing how everything from the British stiff-upper-lip to abusive relationships, from the rise of fundamentalist regimes to the failure of economies, stem from this