Maybe the key to understand the quote is that “reasonable” and “unreasonable” are social judgements, society would rather want people to conform to the norms/world than have them change it. At least that’s the way I read the quote.
“Reason” in general seems to be a good set of heuristics. Trying to be reasonable will help you make financial decisions, plan ahead for common contingencies, work hard yet sustainably, get into stable relationships, etc. Another good point of reason is that its failings tend to be known or easy to predict; for example, it tends to select low-variance strategies, discount excitement, and underestimate the duration and magnitude of personality changes. That makes it easier to evaluate: use it much more for mortgages than for romance.
Maybe the key to understand the quote is that “reasonable” and “unreasonable” are social judgements, society would rather want people to conform to the norms/world than have them change it. At least that’s the way I read the quote.
Oh, I see! That makes sense.
“Reason” in general seems to be a good set of heuristics. Trying to be reasonable will help you make financial decisions, plan ahead for common contingencies, work hard yet sustainably, get into stable relationships, etc. Another good point of reason is that its failings tend to be known or easy to predict; for example, it tends to select low-variance strategies, discount excitement, and underestimate the duration and magnitude of personality changes. That makes it easier to evaluate: use it much more for mortgages than for romance.