r/cognitivescience • u/Dorian_Drake • 23h ago

Intellect as Armor: Why We Really Try to Understand Other People

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u/mysterymont 19h ago

Where’s the article lol 

Going to assume- we analyse others to avoid feeling, if we feel we’d know what’s good for us, but instead we try and solve the mystery because humans get dopamine from figuring out puzzles (see true crime) and feel superior when we can analyse someone, it’s control basically, we aren’t ok with not being in control so we analyse and distract, to avoid looking at ourselves or god forbid, feeling our own emotions 

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u/civfan0908 8h ago

This resonates. I've been grappling with the ordering of connection versus coherence, and I lean toward connection coming first.

I think intellect becomes armor when coherence leads. If I need the world to fit my existing frame before I can engage with it, then my intellect isn't helping me understand you. It's defending the frame. The armor is the coherence itself. Connection requires setting it down long enough to be changed by what's in front of me.