Motivated Reasoning.

Why this matters here

Kahan’s “Motivated Reasoning” contribution frames how identity goals shape which evidence people credit, discount, or demand in contested domains. How Meaning Moves places that sorting inside ordinary conflict: facts arrive inside interpretations already forming around responsibility, fear, and whose risk deserves priority. Kahan theorizes motivated cognition; the book asks why more numbers often fail to slow a room once the story of who is at stake is already set.