Tom Stafford

“So striking is the success of reason when deployed in the service of argument that two cognitive scientists, Dan Sperber and Hugo Mercier, have even proposed that this is what reason evolved to do - convince other people in arguments, a legacy of our biological nature to live in social groups. This explains the success of groups on problems that confound individuals, and also explains why we are so good at thinking up reasons why we’re right, even when we’re wrong. If the purpose of reason is to persuade others that we’re right, rather than find the truth directly, then this is just what you’d expect.”
― Tom Stafford, For argument's sake: evidence that reason can change minds

“The first two sentences are hard to understand, but make some kind of sense. The last sentence is merely rearranged but makes no natural sense at all. (This is all assuming it makes some sort of sense for an old lady to be swallowing cats in the first place, which is patently absurd, but it turns out she swallowed a goat too, not to mention a horse, so we’ll let the cat pass without additional comment.)”
― Tom Stafford, Mind Hacks: Tips & Tricks for Using Your Brain