I found the framework in the book “Action Inquiry” by Bill Torbert very helpful in this context. In Torbert’s framework, a typical young rationalist would be in “expert’ mode. There are many good things to be had in later levels.
The post-rationalists, in this view, do not think that rationalism is wrong but that it has limitations. For example a more relaxed attitude to the truth of one’s theories can leave you more open to new information and to other ways of seeing things. A recent conversation I had with a young rationalist illustrates this. He criticised me for denying the ‘science’ showing, in his view, that statins are highly beneficial medications, and felt I was succumbing to woo-woo in being sceptical. I tried to argue that it is not a simple matter of science versus woo-woo. The scientific process is influenced by financial incentives, career incentives, egos, ideologies, the sometimes excessive influence of high-status figures especially in medicine; the ideal of open and complete publication of data and methods and results are by no means met. At the same time one should not assume that with 15 minutes + google you can do better than a highly trained specialist.
Re: your anecdote, I interpret that conversation as one between a person with a more naive view of how the world works and one with a more sophisticated understanding. Both people in such a conversation, or neither of them, could be rationalists under this framework.
I found the framework in the book “Action Inquiry” by Bill Torbert very helpful in this context. In Torbert’s framework, a typical young rationalist would be in “expert’ mode. There are many good things to be had in later levels.
A brief outline of the framework is here https://www.madstonblack.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Cook-Greuter-maturity-stages.pdf
The post-rationalists, in this view, do not think that rationalism is wrong but that it has limitations. For example a more relaxed attitude to the truth of one’s theories can leave you more open to new information and to other ways of seeing things. A recent conversation I had with a young rationalist illustrates this. He criticised me for denying the ‘science’ showing, in his view, that statins are highly beneficial medications, and felt I was succumbing to woo-woo in being sceptical. I tried to argue that it is not a simple matter of science versus woo-woo. The scientific process is influenced by financial incentives, career incentives, egos, ideologies, the sometimes excessive influence of high-status figures especially in medicine; the ideal of open and complete publication of data and methods and results are by no means met. At the same time one should not assume that with 15 minutes + google you can do better than a highly trained specialist.
Re: your anecdote, I interpret that conversation as one between a person with a more naive view of how the world works and one with a more sophisticated understanding. Both people in such a conversation, or neither of them, could be rationalists under this framework.