Editing 2167: Motivated Reasoning Olympics

{{comic
| number    = 2167
| date      = June 24, 2019
| title     = Motivated Reasoning Olympics
| image     = motivated_reasoning_olympics.png
| titletext = [later] I can't believe how bad corruption has become, especially given that our league split off from the statewide one a month ago SPECIFICALLY to protest this kind of flagrantly biased judging.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Cueball]] is talking to [[Ponytail]] about the trophy he won for winning the “Motivated Reasoning Olympics” (hence the title). Ponytail rightly points out that the trophy says he only got second place. Cueball then displays the "{{w|motivated reasoning}}" skills that won him the trophy, by claiming that the athlete who beat him cheated in an earlier round and that the judges were “certain” to disqualify him after reviewing. Here, the cognitive dissonance that should result from believing that he won first place but having a trophy that says second place is reduced by Cueball's motivated reasoning. He has developed a narrative that explains away the inconsistent fact of the label on the trophy, and thus, convinces himself that there couldn't have been any shortcoming in his own performance. These are all characteristics of motivated reasoning.

The title text is a continuation where Cueball suggests the judges are biased in favor of the original winner, whom they approve of. He further states that this is evidence of corruption and is the reason why his league split off from the official state-sponsored league just prior to the Motivated Reasoning Olympics. Of course, motivated reasoning is an emotion-biased decision-making phenomenon, by definition, so he should ''expect'' the judging to be biased.

On a less subtle level, the title text further diminishes Cueball's second place, since it turns out the competition he won second place in was held by a splinter group from a state league, which is rather far from the global best-of-the-best otherwise implied by "{{w|olympics}}".

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is holding a trophy with a 2 engraved on it, showing it off to Ponytail]
:Cueball: Check it out, I won first place at the Motivated Reasoning Olympics!
:Ponytail: That trophy says "second."
:Cueball: Well, the guy who won was caught cheating in an earlier round, so the board is almost certain to strip him of his win once they review the...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]