I don’t see rationality as meaning we become hyperrational urkels. Our emotional faculties are part of us, and we should strive to grow to use them wisely. There is nothing irrational in this.
Persuasion as such is a Dark Art. However, there is an Art to telling the truth well, of telling it clearly, so that it can be understood. This is the art which I will spend my life attempting to master. Were one sufficiently advanced in this art, it seems to me that you could simply explain to a couple of brownshirts why they ought not to be brownshirts any more. I do not expect to reach this level on this side of the singularity, but I see no reason that it could not be done.
Success in option 5 has much more to do with persuasiveness than rationality. I believe that a hyper-rational Urkel would fail every time.
Is it ethical to use irrational persuasion techniques to convince people to become more rational?
I don’t see rationality as meaning we become hyperrational urkels. Our emotional faculties are part of us, and we should strive to grow to use them wisely. There is nothing irrational in this.
Persuasion as such is a Dark Art. However, there is an Art to telling the truth well, of telling it clearly, so that it can be understood. This is the art which I will spend my life attempting to master. Were one sufficiently advanced in this art, it seems to me that you could simply explain to a couple of brownshirts why they ought not to be brownshirts any more. I do not expect to reach this level on this side of the singularity, but I see no reason that it could not be done.