For the Public Benefit

The mission of Real Reason is to apply the tools of cognitive linguistics in ways that help people think and act democratically in service of the common good. Social change happens, in part, on a conceptual level: recognizing problems, understanding the possibilities for change, making sense of human motivation, and seeing the potential of cooperative problem-solving.

Any effort to create social change begins with recognizing the problem. Do people see what needs to change? Are they able to anticipate future challenges? Progress in many issue areas — from the campaign finance system, to climate change, to the diabetes pandemic — is limited by the lack of problem recognition. Working with partners, Real Reason identifies the mental shortcuts that make best use of people's natural ability to recognize patterns and problems.

Even when people see the problems that exist, they often experience cognitive dissonance. They know that inequality and poverty are unacceptable conditions, but are asked to believe that these things are "natural" results of market "forces." When a problem is framed as a matter of fixed conditions that are beyond people's control, passive acceptance seems to be the only option. Real Reason helps to relieve this dissonance by identifying the mental models that, instead, enable people to see what real changes are possible.

In each stage of conceptualizing social change, there is the question of what motivates people. Triggers like fear and anger can be effective for limited objectives, but reliance on them undermines long-term efforts to build a just, adaptive, and open society. Real Reason is developing a better understanding of how people are motivated by their hopes and aspirations.

Once problems and possibilities are fully recognized, how then can solutions best be developed? In America today, the default mental models generally support go-it-alone decision making — whether in managing one's own health care and retirement plans, or negotiating for better working conditions. But Americans are capable of better. Real Reason identifies the mental models that support communities of people working together democratically. In this way, even the most complex social problems can be solved through a combined effort in which each individual plays a complementary role.

Real Reason's work on the conceptual dimensions of social change is conducted through five core activities (see Core Activities), each designed to serve the needs of partner organizations and the general public.