What happens when we think? How do people make judgments? While different theories abound--and are heatedly debated--most are based on an algorithmic model of how the brain works. In this book, the author builds a case for a theory that thinking is based on recognizing patterns and that this process is intrinsically a-logical. Margolis gives a Darwinian account of how pattern recognition evolved to reach human cognitive abilities.

Introduction -- 1. Illusions -- 2. Two preliminary arguments -- 3. A cognitive ladder -- 4. P-cognition -- 5. Knowledge, belief, logic -- 6. Learning : level 1 -- 7. Learning : level 2 -- 8. Cognitive statics : three experiments -- 9. Cognitive dynamics : paradigm shifts -- 10. The Darwinian discovery -- 11. The Copernican issues -- 12. The Copernican discovery -- 13. The Copernican contagion -- 14. Political judgment : Galileo and the Pope.