Can you cite specific examples which exhibit rationality, and not just self-control? (eg “I should not lose my temper or get drunk so often” is not a rationality issue.)
I don’t doubt you; I’d just like specific examples for discussion before I give an up-vote. :)
Sure, yes. The housework I do is more available to me than the housework J does, because I am there all the time while I do mine seeing myself do it, while hers might be done while I’m not even there, and all I get is a few seconds of “Oh, you did the dishwasher, thanks!” As a result, there’s a cognitive bias in favour of thinking you a larger proportion of the housework than you really do. I think a lot of domestic disputes could be fixed if this were more widely recognised.
This sentence was a nod to Robin’s point that believing certain falsehoods may be socially desirable, and wrongly estimating one’s attractiveness etc. may be desirable romantically.
I would say that being rational—as Robin defined it: more “rational” means better believing what is true, given one’s limited info and analysis resources—might, but should not, and does not necessarily harm you.
How can rationality help you win? Maybe:
It can help you win to the extent that its lessons contribute to the winning process.
In terms of it hindering you, it may hinder you if it interferes with this process, but it shouldn’t (you’re doing something wrong), because it’s about matching your map of reality closer to the territory, allowing any and all strategies to be better implemented.
Better believing what is true, I don’t think, by its self, necessarily must lead to a worse outcome then believing the falsehoods (in your example), it is just an example of where believing the falsehoods isn’t outright defeated by the alternative strategy provided by ‘rationality’.
With this in mind I think the idea that rationality can help you in your interpersonal relationships is a very interesting path to follow, and should be followed.
I think this is an area in which we have more or less given up on rationality. That doesn’t mean that rationality cannot help us win, just that we haven’t seen what rationality can do for us.
Why are interpersonal relationships out? I think rationality can help a great deal here.
Can you cite specific examples which exhibit rationality, and not just self-control? (eg “I should not lose my temper or get drunk so often” is not a rationality issue.)
I don’t doubt you; I’d just like specific examples for discussion before I give an up-vote. :)
Sure, yes. The housework I do is more available to me than the housework J does, because I am there all the time while I do mine seeing myself do it, while hers might be done while I’m not even there, and all I get is a few seconds of “Oh, you did the dishwasher, thanks!” As a result, there’s a cognitive bias in favour of thinking you a larger proportion of the housework than you really do. I think a lot of domestic disputes could be fixed if this were more widely recognised.
This sentence was a nod to Robin’s point that believing certain falsehoods may be socially desirable, and wrongly estimating one’s attractiveness etc. may be desirable romantically.
I would say that being rational—as Robin defined it: more “rational” means better believing what is true, given one’s limited info and analysis resources—might, but should not, and does not necessarily harm you.
How can rationality help you win? Maybe:
It can help you win to the extent that its lessons contribute to the winning process.
In terms of it hindering you, it may hinder you if it interferes with this process, but it shouldn’t (you’re doing something wrong), because it’s about matching your map of reality closer to the territory, allowing any and all strategies to be better implemented.
Better believing what is true, I don’t think, by its self, necessarily must lead to a worse outcome then believing the falsehoods (in your example), it is just an example of where believing the falsehoods isn’t outright defeated by the alternative strategy provided by ‘rationality’. With this in mind I think the idea that rationality can help you in your interpersonal relationships is a very interesting path to follow, and should be followed.
I think this is an area in which we have more or less given up on rationality. That doesn’t mean that rationality cannot help us win, just that we haven’t seen what rationality can do for us.
Hell yes.