I actually agree with much of this, "reason" as we know it, is not necessarily an intrinsically beneficial thing, it's just had a decently long track record of

I actually agree with much of this, "reason" as we know it, is not necessarily an intrinsically beneficial thing, it's just had a decently long track record of providing stability and improved standards of living. For much of human history though, reason took a back seat to centralized power and shared belief systems (even if they were not based on reason). E.g.: Egyptian society could get a lot more done if everyone believed in the sun god, and that the pharaoh was god-like. Shared beliefs, even if false or unreasonable, increased stability and allowed society to better organize. Roughly since the enlightenment, reason has had a similarly strong ability to organize society, and the civilizations that embraced it have tended to live longer than those that don't. In the context of history, it's arguably more of a social tool than a underlying value.