Rationality is overrated

I am thinking that perhaps, rationality is over the rating of some people . . .

. . . therefore overrated for those who are not rational.

To rate is to consider to be of a certain quality or standard.

Rationality can be rated as higher than its opposite IE irrationality.

Rationality is overrated in a world full of irrational people - perhaps always.

What I meant by rationality is overrated is that we seem to think that we have to be rational, that if we aren’t that’s something to be ashamed of. It’s like we live in a culture where rationality rules over us rather than we ruling over our rationality (I wonder if this goes all the way back to the Greeks). I tried to argue in this thread that being irrational can have its advantages, and one should not be afraid to be irrational if it seems effective sometimes.

It is irrational to think we should only be rational all the time because we are not machines but human beings
Furthermore there is nothing wrong with being irrational as long as it does not negatively impact upon anyone

It’s a drive-by posting, but I thought perhaps OP might appreciate this:

medium.com/@alexanderdouglas/th … 195ab1a5bc

…^^ The liberal racist’s view of rationality, “He is only trying to explain rationality because he is an insecure, untalented white male”. :icon-rolleyes:

One of the comments about this review:

Yeah, really. The reviewer seems to have some personal issues spilling onto the page.

I’m now tempted to read the book just to see if it’s that bad.

That is exactly the same as saying, “What I meant by health is overrated is that we seem to think that we have to be healthy, that if we aren’t that’s something to be ashamed of”.

Of course, it might take an actual rational mind to see that.

The consequences of irrationality depend on the exact situation.

But those who praise irrationality tend to want to apply it in situations when when rationality is the preferred approach. And just by suggesting that there is a “preferred approach” is “forcing” rationality on them against their will.

Please, give an example, Gib.

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rational
Also just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention

Irrationality is the absence of rationality.

If you are thinking in a wrong way, you aren’t necessarily thinking in an irrational way.

So irrationality doesn’t mean wrong thinking. It means “not thinking” but “bringing some instinctive or emotional drives into thinking”.

I agree. See…we can agree. :mrgreen:

Or someone stuck in a rationalist’s frame of mind. Your analogy doesn’t hold… at all. When is it ever to one’s benefit to not be healthy?

Whereas striving for health is more or less synonymous with striving for survival, striving for rationality is not. 99% of animals on this planet survive quite well without a mechanism in their brain for “rational thinking”. Most of the human brain helps us survive without having to constantly employ “rational thinking”. 90% of the time, we are governed by instinct, intuition, emotion, fantasy, and a lot of irrational thinking–and for the most part it gets us by. I don’t think we can say the same for being unhealthy.

Playing with your kids.

And seeing as how 99% of animals throughout 99% of our collective evolutionary history have employed that approach, I’d say it can (sometimes) be effective.

Funny, the way that people know what animals are thinking. :laughing:

I think there is more to it James

To rate is to consider to be of a certain quality or standard. The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational.
Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.

I am thinking that perhaps, rationality is over the rating of some people . . .

. . . therefore overrated for those who are not rational.

To rate is to consider to be of a certain quality or standard.

Rationality can be rated as higher than its opposite IE irrationality.

Rationality is overrated in a world full of irrational people - perhaps always.

You are not rational when you are playing with your kids?

How much rational thinking do you think animals do, phyllo? (Besides humans).

For what it’s worth, being human myself, I can tell you (from first-hand introspective subjective experience) that rational thinking isn’t the rule across the board for all animal intelligence.

^ Wow, good enough for a quote! Mind if I quote you in my sig, encode?

^ This too. Is this another way of saying the same thing?

So if I am to translate this, you mean to say: rationality is deemed to be of a certain quality or standard in a world full of irrational people? And if it’s overrated, that means its deemed to be such… in excess? Or perhaps deemed to be of a higher quality or standard than it really is? And why by irrational people in particular? Are you saying that the reason rationality is overrated is because the people doing the rating are irrational? That if they were more rational, then rationality would be rated more accurately?

Must decode your encoding, encode. :laughing:

No… I’m not… am I supposed to feel some kind of cognitive dissonance now? What do you imagine an ir/rational parent doing with their children?

And while I’m at it, I think surreptitious deserves to be quoted for this:

^ So much wisdom packed into such simple words. If you’re reading this surreptitious, mind if I quote you in my sig?

It’s hard to say because we can’t examine their thinking process. All we can do is look at their behavior and deduce how they may have arrived at it.
So if one looks at some behaviors … animals build shelters, the seek out food when hungry, they take steps to avoid predators … those seem to be rational behaviors. Why are the thoughts which produced the behavior not called rational? Simply because they are classified as “instinctive” behaviors and therefore we are saying that they required no thought. I’m not sure if that logic is legitimate.

If you look at Zen, there is a concept of “no-mind”. Once you free yourself of illusions of life and dualistic thinking, you will be able to “see” clearly and respond appropriately in every situation. It seem possible to call this “instinctive”. But the person in this state is not emotional or irrational. He is fully integrated with his environment. That could be called the most rational state.

So perhaps, animals are also fully integrated into their environments and acting more rationally than humans … and consequently thinking more rationally than humans.

You are playing with Arminius’ kids?

He is playing without using his brain - with your kids, Arminius. :open_mouth:

Meditation is a right-brained activity. Thinking is left-brained. The state of “no-mind” makes you calm, better focused, but not necessarily rational. Unless emotional stability is what you mean by being rational. Which I don’t think it’s what it means to be rational. Rationality has to do with the degree to which your decisions are informed (by evidence, facts, etc.) You can be perfectly calm and still be delusional (e.g. you can believe in the existence of God.)