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I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the interesting parallel with religion here. Belief in a deity is also --in some eyes-- totally irrational. It can cause si

by sjaak 6y ago

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the interesting parallel with religion here. Belief in a deity is also --in some eyes-- totally irrational. It can cause similar harm and sometimes also divides families, e.g. when people want to 'get out': Jehovas witnesses, scientology, ... Let's face it, collectively, we're not as rational as we like to believe.

aikinai 6y ago
Who’s we? I doubt anyone would claim that most people are rational.
- arethuza 6y ago
  Didn't some economists claim exactly that? "economic man, is the portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational, narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively-defined ends optimally" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus
desilentio 6y ago
May I ask if you know why you use rules of that kind, with spaces only on the side opposite the insertion? I've seen that in print but only once.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
What if the faith in God was rational? I mean to YOU it doesn't seem rational, but to the faithful it does. I mean one logical, rational argument used is that the universe and life is incredibly complicated, we as "mere" humans cannot create it, and it's incredibly unlikely humans would develop like we did. Therefore, there must be intelligent design behind it. See? Rational and logical thought. Dismissing people who think differently as being irrational is just alienating and pushing them away, entrenching them even more if you go in with a judgment and mindset like that. It would make you scoff at "these people", because they're irrational unlike you, the epitome of rationality and logical thought. TL;DR, assume the "other side" is just as smart and rational as you are, they just have different ideas.
- tdons 6y ago
  If it were rational, it would also be falsifiable. Let me ask you: what would have to happen for you to rescind your belief? Also; at the risk of starting a discussion about religion: you haven't developed a logical argument by saying "universe is complicated -> deity". You've only moved the problem of "who or what created X" up one level to the deity. Who created the deity?
  - andrewjl 6y ago
    Rationality itself is not falsifiable, it relies on axioms that must be assumed true in order to work. Edit: Treating rationality as something real as opposed to just a (very useful) figment of our imagination, i.e. something like a variant of Platonic Realism, is no different from any other religion.

by sjaak 6y ago

aikinai 6y ago

Who’s we? I doubt anyone would claim that most people are rational.

arethuza 6y ago
Didn't some economists claim exactly that? "economic man, is the portrayal of humans as agents who are consistently rational, narrowly self-interested, and who pursue their subjectively-defined ends optimally" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_economicus

desilentio 6y ago

May I ask if you know why you use rules of that kind, with spaces only on the side opposite the insertion? I've seen that in print but only once.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

What if the faith in God was rational? I mean to YOU it doesn't seem rational, but to the faithful it does. I mean one logical, rational argument used is that the universe and life is incredibly complicated, we as "mere" humans cannot create it, and it's incredibly unlikely humans would develop like we did. Therefore, there must be intelligent design behind it. See? Rational and logical thought. Dismissing people who think differently as being irrational is just alienating and pushing them away, entrenching them even more if you go in with a judgment and mindset like that. It would make you scoff at "these people", because they're irrational unlike you, the epitome of rationality and logical thought. TL;DR, assume the "other side" is just as smart and rational as you are, they just have different ideas.

tdons 6y ago
If it were rational, it would also be falsifiable. Let me ask you: what would have to happen for you to rescind your belief? Also; at the risk of starting a discussion about religion: you haven't developed a logical argument by saying "universe is complicated -> deity". You've only moved the problem of "who or what created X" up one level to the deity. Who created the deity?
- andrewjl 6y ago
  Rationality itself is not falsifiable, it relies on axioms that must be assumed true in order to work. Edit: Treating rationality as something real as opposed to just a (very useful) figment of our imagination, i.e. something like a variant of Platonic Realism, is no different from any other religion.