5 ms·
Nobody wants to deal with rational people. Big business want people to buy things they don't need, with money they don't have to impress people they don't like
by SMAAART 5y ago
Nobody wants to deal with rational people.
Big business want people to buy things they don't need, with money they don't have to impress people they don't like
Politicians want people who will drink the cool-aid and follow what they (the politicians) say (and not what they do)
Religions... well, same.
And so all messages from advertisement, to movies, TV, narrative is about hijacking people's feelings and suppressing rationality. Common sense is no longer common, and doesn't make much sense.
- DoingIsLearning 5y agoI don't disagree but I have to say this absolute reads like a voice-over from an Adam Curtis documentary.
- athenot 5y agoThis sounds cynical but yes, unfortunately, there are many incentives to not be rational.
- Siira 5y agoI think you’re confusing group rationality with individual rationality. There is never an individual incentive not to be individually rational, by definition. Bad Nash equilibria, in game-theoretic terms.
- toshk 5y agoWhen all experiences we have are based in meaning those emotional experiences in some sense might be more "real" then a logical thought.
- jimbokun 5y agoI think this is connected to another reason why so many seem to reject "rationality" today. They are rejecting the authorities that in the past have tried to associate themselves with "rationality". The political think tanks. The seminaries. The universities. Government agencies. Capitalist CEOs following the "invisible hand" of the market. All of these so-called elites have biases and agendas, so of course none of them should be accepted at face value. I think what's missed, is rationality is not about trusting people and organizations, but about trusting a process. Trusting debates over lectures. Trusting well designed studies over trusting scientists. Trusting free speech and examining a broad range of ideas over speech codes and censorship. Trusting empirical observation over ideological purity. This is the value system of the so called "classical liberals", and they are an ever more lonely and isolated group. There is a growing embrace for authoritarianism and defense of tribal identity on both the "left" and the "right" taking its place.
- pessimizer 5y ago"Classical liberalism" has little or no relationship to any sentiment you've expressed here, as far as I know.
- marcod 5y agoI maintain that the concept of "common sense" is also quite useless now :p
- ret2plt 5y agoIt's worse than that. The problem is that being truly rational is hard, unpleasant work that few people want to do. If you read an article that makes your political opponents look bad, you can't just feel smugly superior, you have to take into account that you are predisposed to believe convenient sounding things, so you have to put extra effort into checking the truth of that claim. If you follow the evidence instead of tribal consensus, you will probably end up with some beliefs that your friends and relatives wont like, etc.
- tim333 5y agoSometimes you want to deal with rational people - for example if you want things fixed and to work. I'd like a rational doctor, plumber and government. But I see your point that there are major incentives for encouraging irrationality in your customers.