Is it rational to maximize rationality?

[Whateverist]

I just dabble in rationality when it serves me.  Fortunately I have a strong desire to know the world on its own terms.  So I don't avoid rationality in order to maintain a fantasy alternative to the real world.

I often hear my fellow atheists justify a stance on the basis of its rationality.  That just strikes me as odd.  Rationality is a tool, it can't be a rationale.  I don't want to be rational, I just want to know as much about the world and myself as I can.

Gawd help me, I feel another poll coming on.  I wonder if I've used up my quota for the week.  Ahh well, wouldn't be my first warning. 

So to the question in the title, which of these best captures your response.


1)   Yes, rationality can rationally be shown to be an objective good.  Perhaps the highest, objectivemost good of all.

2)   Yes, by definition, you ____ .  [Choose one: "twit", "numbskull", "romanticist", "other" .. please elaborate.]

3)   I'm not sure.

4)   No, but obviously it is a damned good thing to be if you have any self respect at all.

5)   No, rationality has utility and comes into play naturally enough when needed.  What we "should be" doesn't enter into it, Mr Spock.  

6)   Other, for the truly picky - but you'd better damn well justify the need.

7)   None of the above.

8)   None of the above, not even this one.  I just hate fucking polls.

[robvalue]

Yes baby. The first one.

The more rational you are, the better decisions you make. It's not necessary to push this to the absolute extremes, and not everything demands or requires it. But as a general rule, striving for rationality will improve your life and your decisions, at least where important ones are concerned.

Again, I would have voted for all of them but fascism...

[Excited Penguin]

I choose 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6("...but you'd better damn well justify the need." - What the fuck is that supposed to mean?*) and 8.
Rationally speaking, you only have two options here, really. 1(without the perhaps) and 7.
* Quoting Cato.

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Again, I would have voted for all of them but fascism...

How exactly is fascism rational?

[robvalue]

Nah, it's a silly joke. I'm saying the poll is fascist because I'm limited to one choice

My stupid sense of humour.

[Panglossian]

By maximising rationality, I'm assuming you mean to always be as logical as possible. It seems to me that such an outlook would dull ones appreciation for artistic things like music due to its inherently visceral nature i.e. rarely invoking thought.

It may also cause an inability to suspend disbelief, and thus a lack of enjoyment for fiction ("that would never happen", "this is scientifically inaccurate", "why is she wearing makeup during a zombie apocalypse" etc.).

Also, while strict logicians and pragmatists are exceptionally suited to a lot of fields (programming, economics, law and avoiding harmful delusions to name a few), they tend to over-analyse or correct people in social situations.

...

Actually, having now listed a few possible drawbacks of total rationality, it seems evidently possible to identify and avoid these eventualities through the very same pragmatic mindset that led to them in the first place.

Argh, my poor little brain can't process vicious circles.

Maybe it would be worth splitting the word rationalism into more specific definitions: logical rationalism - whereby only the path of the pragmatist is taken (sounds slightly sociopathic to me), and pensive rationalism - whereby one imagines the implications of the manner in which they approach life

[Dystopia]

Again, I would have voted for all of them but fascism... Tongue

If you support the idea that the common good and the well being of the nation is superior and more important than individualism and narcissism then you can make the case for fascism being a rational political regime.

Whateverist, what do you even mean by rational? You can't ask if it's good to be rational because there's not a common agreement on what constitutes rational. Is it rational to support something inhumane but that has proven to be good in some sort of way? Is it rational to commit genocide if I have evidence it will benefit society? Heck, criminals rationalize their behavior - They see crime as a rational choice.

[robvalue]

Tada! You can't avoid it

You can't make good decisions about how rational to be, and when, without being rational

It's one of those catcher in the rye 27 things.

[vorlon13]

The enraged podium grew pallid.

[Panglossian]

I'm relatively certain there isn't a yes or no answer; the mere nature of the question immediately makes you rationalise your thoughts on the matter, and it's rather difficult to stay objective about such things without removing yourself from them, as objectivity and rationalism are inherently intertwined with one another. It feels vaguely paradoxical, and a little bit like being rudely awoken and desperately trying to remember what Mila Kunis was doing to you while you were asleep - you know there's an answer in there somewhere, lost down the back of the proverbial sofa cushion.

I feel like if I try to think about this for too long, fetid grey matter is going to start dribbling out of my ears, so in conclusion, the only "rational" course left open is to succumb to madness and escape this vortex of logic.

There. As time increases, the likelihood of absolute logic giving rise to absolute chaos approaches infinity, which is why computers can't handle paradoxes and that it is rational to be irrational... sometimes.

[Excited Penguin]

Well, look, Panglosian, it's fairly easy to explain away all that bullshit about rationality not being good because it defies art. It simply depends on 1)why are people rational and  whether2) there are people who are more rational than others? And so, a religious person has his reasons to believe in God(e.g. not be sent to hell) and is therefore rational but can be less rational than the atheist who doesn't believe in God for lack of evidence(e.g. of hell). Which one is better?

And so it is with art. Why would one pursue literature or music? Because one feels good doing so. Therefore it is rational for him to do so. Does reading a book or listening to a song put somebody else in jeopardy? - that's the only question you have to ask yourself in this case. Rationality, is precisely that, a tool we use to dispense with bad courses of action and follow better ones.