This is interesting. When I first discovered LW, I was reading The Praise of Folly by Erasmus. He argues, among other things, that all emotions and feelings that make life worthwhile are inherently imbedded in stupidity. Love, friendship optimism and happiness require foolishness to work.
Now is it very hard to compare a sixteenth century satirical piece with a current rational argument, but I have observed that intelligence and stupidity don’t seem to be mutually exclusive.
From where comes your assumption that intelligent, rational people can’t be stupid?
Emotions don’t tend to be rational, and in the force of a strong one like love even the most intelligent and rational person can turn into an optimistic fool, sure that their loved one is infinitely more trustworthy than the average human, and statistics on adultery don’t apply in this case.
Should you try to overcome the bias of strong emotions? Can you overcome it at all? I have never seen someone immune to it. So maybe the happiness of stupidity is still available to all of us.
This is interesting. When I first discovered LW, I was reading The Praise of Folly by Erasmus. He argues, among other things, that all emotions and feelings that make life worthwhile are inherently imbedded in stupidity. Love, friendship optimism and happiness require foolishness to work. Now is it very hard to compare a sixteenth century satirical piece with a current rational argument, but I have observed that intelligence and stupidity don’t seem to be mutually exclusive. From where comes your assumption that intelligent, rational people can’t be stupid? Emotions don’t tend to be rational, and in the force of a strong one like love even the most intelligent and rational person can turn into an optimistic fool, sure that their loved one is infinitely more trustworthy than the average human, and statistics on adultery don’t apply in this case. Should you try to overcome the bias of strong emotions? Can you overcome it at all? I have never seen someone immune to it. So maybe the happiness of stupidity is still available to all of us.