If you want to make a character who’s actually both a rationalist and not particularly intelligent, rather than simply being intelligent beyond the expectations of their position, I’d suggest having them know just a few basic heuristics, which are simple if not intuitive to wield.
They might not have the smarts to pick up all the subtle signs to know when someone is trying to con them, for instance, but they’ll be the first person to think to communicate important information to avoid a conflict. And they understand the importance of being able to actually change their mind, so if they’re experiencing doubts about something, their response would be to go to someone they think has good judgment and is likely to be impartial, ask what they think, and then accept that answer, even if it’s not the one they would have been most comfortable with.
When it comes to writing, people are generally taught a set of “rules,” but are told that really good writers can “break” these rules once they really learn what they’re doing. But of course, nobody can really break the fundamental rules of good writing without harming the quality of their work, it’s just that expert writers have a better sense of how the fundamental rules differ from the simpler, easier to understand formulations taught to beginners. A not-very-intelligent rationalist would probably be kind of like a beginning level writer. They know that the point of following the rules is to make good decisions, the way that a beginning writer knows that the point of following the rules is to produce good writing. But they would only be able to explain to a very limited extent why those rules lead to better decisions than their alternatives, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to grasp the deeper rules underlying them, and understand what sort of situations function as exceptions to the more basic incarnations.
That’s certainly a component of it, but there are usually other elements, such as the character using heuristics that are not very good in the first place, rejecting emotions or intangibles, inability to cope with “illogical” behavior from others, and so on.
If you want to make a character who’s actually both a rationalist and not particularly intelligent, rather than simply being intelligent beyond the expectations of their position, I’d suggest having them know just a few basic heuristics, which are simple if not intuitive to wield.
They might not have the smarts to pick up all the subtle signs to know when someone is trying to con them, for instance, but they’ll be the first person to think to communicate important information to avoid a conflict. And they understand the importance of being able to actually change their mind, so if they’re experiencing doubts about something, their response would be to go to someone they think has good judgment and is likely to be impartial, ask what they think, and then accept that answer, even if it’s not the one they would have been most comfortable with.
When it comes to writing, people are generally taught a set of “rules,” but are told that really good writers can “break” these rules once they really learn what they’re doing. But of course, nobody can really break the fundamental rules of good writing without harming the quality of their work, it’s just that expert writers have a better sense of how the fundamental rules differ from the simpler, easier to understand formulations taught to beginners. A not-very-intelligent rationalist would probably be kind of like a beginning level writer. They know that the point of following the rules is to make good decisions, the way that a beginning writer knows that the point of following the rules is to produce good writing. But they would only be able to explain to a very limited extent why those rules lead to better decisions than their alternatives, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to grasp the deeper rules underlying them, and understand what sort of situations function as exceptions to the more basic incarnations.
Keep in mind that a Straw Vulcan is what happens when a character like this is put in a situation that is an exception to their rules.
That’s certainly a component of it, but there are usually other elements, such as the character using heuristics that are not very good in the first place, rejecting emotions or intangibles, inability to cope with “illogical” behavior from others, and so on.