If I, a rationalist atheist, was in Francis Bacon’s shoes I would 100% live my life in such a way that history books would record me as being a “devout Anglican”.
Sure. But, in order to lie without the risk of being caught, you need to simulate the person who actually is a devout Anglican. And the easiest way to do that is, having your conscious self actually be a devout Anglican. Which can be a rational strategy, but which isn’t the thing we call “rationality” in this context.
Another thing is, we can speak of two levels of rationality: “individual” and “collective”. In individual rationality, our conscious beliefs are accurate but we keep them secret from others. In collective rationality, we have a community of people with accurate conscious beliefs who communicate them with each other. The social cost of collective rationality is greater, but the potential benefits are also greater, as they are compounded through collective truth-seeking and cooperation.
If I, a rationalist atheist, was in Francis Bacon’s shoes I would 100% live my life in such a way that history books would record me as being a “devout Anglican”.
Sure. But, in order to lie without the risk of being caught, you need to simulate the person who actually is a devout Anglican. And the easiest way to do that is, having your conscious self actually be a devout Anglican. Which can be a rational strategy, but which isn’t the thing we call “rationality” in this context.
Another thing is, we can speak of two levels of rationality: “individual” and “collective”. In individual rationality, our conscious beliefs are accurate but we keep them secret from others. In collective rationality, we have a community of people with accurate conscious beliefs who communicate them with each other. The social cost of collective rationality is greater, but the potential benefits are also greater, as they are compounded through collective truth-seeking and cooperation.