> Once you decide you _know_ certain things, then you can end up with all kinds of frankly nutty beliefs based on those priors, following a rock solid chain of rational logic all along, as long as your priors are _wrong_.
This mechanism is exactly why the more intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to believe very weird things. They can more easily assemble a chain of rational logic to lead them to whatever it is that they want to believe.
If we’re rationalizing animals (instead of rational), then it follows that the more power/ability someone has to be rational, the more power they have to retcon (essentially) what they want to do as okay. (Rationalize it)
This mechanism is exactly why the more intelligent a person is, the more likely they are to believe very weird things. They can more easily assemble a chain of rational logic to lead them to whatever it is that they want to believe.