What Are We Learning to Believe?

A convincing explanation can sometimes leave me with an unfamiliar question: have I understood the reasoning, or borrowed the speaker's certainty?

While learning science, I sometimes wonder how a finding about human behaviour becomes a claim about what human beings are. I want to follow that argument closely, including the assumptions that give it shape.

Perhaps the conclusion is well supported. Perhaps I have missed a step. Either way, I want to understand what gives it its weight.

When an explanation begins to shape how we see ourselves, how do we decide how much of our trust it has earned?