The human brain requires cognitive tools to see through its natural way of thinking because it is plagued by biases and flaws. The best advances in thinking overtime have been the creation of tools such as the scientific method to see through the subjective illusions our brains create for us. When Steven Pinker refers to statistics, he speaks of hard data that has been tested over and over, and he seems to say that our minds are prone to accept the subjective over this objective story.
Coming at it from a distinct discipline, historian Niall Ferguson, points to the same problem: our mental decision making and our cognitive ability to measure and calculate risk are hindered by biases that prevent us from being objective.
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