The question seems to be along the lines of “can there be consequentialist reasons for a person to adopt beliefs they know to be irrational?”
I make the assumption that the person actually can choose to do so, because this does seem to be possible for at least some people. I am not sure that it is possible for all people, and if it’s not possible for a given person then it is definitely not worth attempting from a consequentialist point of view. Attempting and failing may be even worse than not attempting at all.
The biggest danger seems to be that it will make you less sane. However, if you know your mind is already malfunctioning and in danger of destroying itself, then perhaps becoming even more irrational but less self-destructive might be beneficial to you.
That last part “to you” is a key qualifier though—it may harm others for you to do so. There are plenty examples of harm done to others near them when a person starts to hold irrational beliefs, in addition to the general sanity waterline harm from increasing the proportion of people who hold irrational beliefs.
But sure, I can see that there might be some cases where the consequences do turn out to be on net positive. I still would absolutely not recommend it in general.
The question seems to be along the lines of “can there be consequentialist reasons for a person to adopt beliefs they know to be irrational?”
I make the assumption that the person actually can choose to do so, because this does seem to be possible for at least some people. I am not sure that it is possible for all people, and if it’s not possible for a given person then it is definitely not worth attempting from a consequentialist point of view. Attempting and failing may be even worse than not attempting at all.
The biggest danger seems to be that it will make you less sane. However, if you know your mind is already malfunctioning and in danger of destroying itself, then perhaps becoming even more irrational but less self-destructive might be beneficial to you.
That last part “to you” is a key qualifier though—it may harm others for you to do so. There are plenty examples of harm done to others near them when a person starts to hold irrational beliefs, in addition to the general sanity waterline harm from increasing the proportion of people who hold irrational beliefs.
But sure, I can see that there might be some cases where the consequences do turn out to be on net positive. I still would absolutely not recommend it in general.