When intellect serves the ego.

Sometimes my intellect is advocating for my ego. The argument can become so elegant that I stop questioning what it serves.

Illustrative example

Someone questions my judgement.

Intellect · reasoning & controlPrefrontal cortex contributes within wider brain networks.

01
Ego
I see myself as someone who gets things right.
02
Inner voice
I need to prove my judgement was sound.
03
Intellect
I build an elegant defence of my decision.
04
Decision
I hold my position.

The argument protects the story I tell about myself.

Examine the argument

Notice ego. Being right matters to my sense of myself.

Hear the voice. I notice the urge to defend my judgement.

Question. What evidence would change my mind?

Choose. I can revise the decision and consider whom it serves.

Feynman's warning about fooling ourselves stays with me. I can make a very rational argument that protects my ego. How much of my reasoning is defending the story I tell about myself?

I think about three things: my ego, the voice in my head and my capacity to reason. Sometimes the voice supplies the story and my intellect supplies the justification.

That is why I want to observe the argument as well as make it. What am I hoping is true? Would the same evidence convince me if it pointed towards an outcome I disliked?

The idea of witnessing appeals to me. I can notice a thought, feeling or desire, and then consider what to do with it. Service gives me another question: whom does this help?

What is my ego protecting here?

Reasoning and cognitive control involve prefrontal networks working with other brain systems. The boxes describe aspects of experience. Their connections illustrate this personal model; they are a conceptual diagram of motivation and reasoning.

Richard Feynman on self-deception, Caltech Prefrontal mechanisms combining rewards and beliefs in human decision-making

Ego

Inner voice

Intellect

Decision