If the other pirates were truly rational then they would never have boarded a pirate ship with a pirate who is better at an up-to-5-way fight than them.
When someone asks me how I would get out of a particularly sticky situation, I often fight the urge to glibly respond, by not getting it to said situation.
I digress, if the other pirates were truly rational then they would never let anyone know how good they were at an up-to-X-way fight.
By extension, should truly rational entities never let anyone know how rational they are?
No, they should sometimes not let people know that. Sometimes it is an advantage—either by allowing cooperation that would not otherwise have been possible or demonstrating superior power and so allow options for dominance.
When someone asks me how I would get out of a particularly sticky situation, I often fight the urge to glibly respond, by not getting it to said situation.
I digress, if the other pirates were truly rational then they would never let anyone know how good they were at an up-to-X-way fight.
By extension, should truly rational entities never let anyone know how rational they are?
No, they should sometimes not let people know that. Sometimes it is an advantage—either by allowing cooperation that would not otherwise have been possible or demonstrating superior power and so allow options for dominance.