ABSTRACT

Human cognitive abilities are remarkable. We easily go beyond what is perceptually available to reason about abstract systems. Our cognitive ability to adapt to a vast range of environments, and even to alter our environment to suit our desires, has given our species so great an advantage over other mammals that we are now poised to exterminate most of our former predators, and must use our ingenuity to preserve a few. Indeed, for many theorists, the sophistication of adult human reasoning defies any explanation based on learning.