Sander Van de Cruys holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Leuven, and currently works as a postdoctoral researcher. The Leitmotiv in all his work is understanding the internal rationality in supposedly irrational thinking and behavior, whether it be in psychopathologies (e.g., autism), in indigenous or conspiracy belief systems, or in our emotional experience (e.g. aesthetic experience). He cherishes an approach to psychology that joins an inspiration from lived experience with first-principles thinking and experimentation. He lives with his wife and twin daughters in Ramsel, Belgium. Email: sander.vandecruys [at] gmail.com
by Sander Van de Cruys If there’s one motive governing all our behavior, supervening and bringing about all our other goals or desires, what would it be? Some might say ‘survival’, pointing to Darwin’s theory of evolution. But in practice, this motive is hard to implement: It is impossible to predict or compute what, at…