It’s impossible to make someone reason if they don’t wish to. It’s impossible to force someone to acknowledge the truth if they don’t want to acknowledge it.
You don’t need to lead her down any path, even if she were willing to follow. She probably already knows what the rational approach is and doesn’t choose to implement it.
In the event that she doesn’t, teach her the method of rationality—not just the result—if she comes to you for help. Don’t, otherwise.
If she’s comfortable with letting you be reasonable, and you’re comfortable with letting her have her magical thinking, I’d say everything is fine.
Part of what motivates this post is that research on happiness suggests that people have a hard time predicting how happy they will be in various possible futures. Gilbert has suggested that introspection is so poor that we better off just asking people in that situation how they feel.
It’s impossible to make someone reason if they don’t wish to. It’s impossible to force someone to acknowledge the truth if they don’t want to acknowledge it.
You don’t need to lead her down any path, even if she were willing to follow. She probably already knows what the rational approach is and doesn’t choose to implement it.
In the event that she doesn’t, teach her the method of rationality—not just the result—if she comes to you for help. Don’t, otherwise.
If she’s comfortable with letting you be reasonable, and you’re comfortable with letting her have her magical thinking, I’d say everything is fine.
Part of what motivates this post is that research on happiness suggests that people have a hard time predicting how happy they will be in various possible futures. Gilbert has suggested that introspection is so poor that we better off just asking people in that situation how they feel.