“Saying “yelling at large crowds” is irrational, without giving any definition of “rational,” is quite problematic. ”
Yelling at large crowds is neither rational nor irrational, as it is not a belief and rationality is about beliefs. What I was saying was, effectively yelling at a large crowd doesn’t depend on whether your beliefs are accurate, any more than the ability to roll your tongue does.
“The author can’t mean “rational argument”, because the power of the West is not built on Modus Tolens; it’s built on guns, smallpox, and better industry. ”
The power of the West isn’t built on rational argument with other people, it’s built (in large part) on rational argument internally, Westerners arguing more rationally with other Westerners. This caused the West to become better at science and business, which caused it to become more effective at creating wealth, which in turn generated guns and industry.
“In short, he has no clear definition of rationality, nor an explanation of how having less of it was good, or having more of it was bad.”
That, as you said yourself, was never my thesis; my thesis was that, for attaining many goals on the individual level, rationality is not the most important factor.
“Saying “yelling at large crowds” is irrational, without giving any definition of “rational,” is quite problematic. ”
Yelling at large crowds is neither rational nor irrational, as it is not a belief and rationality is about beliefs. What I was saying was, effectively yelling at a large crowd doesn’t depend on whether your beliefs are accurate, any more than the ability to roll your tongue does.
“The author can’t mean “rational argument”, because the power of the West is not built on Modus Tolens; it’s built on guns, smallpox, and better industry. ”
The power of the West isn’t built on rational argument with other people, it’s built (in large part) on rational argument internally, Westerners arguing more rationally with other Westerners. This caused the West to become better at science and business, which caused it to become more effective at creating wealth, which in turn generated guns and industry.
“In short, he has no clear definition of rationality, nor an explanation of how having less of it was good, or having more of it was bad.”
That, as you said yourself, was never my thesis; my thesis was that, for attaining many goals on the individual level, rationality is not the most important factor.