Is sanity rational?

[bennyboy]

I agree with you. Sanity would be thoughts and actions made towards self-preservation, including doing good for the community. Evolution does a good job of explaing that. It may also explain insanity. I do think self-preservation is rational, but I don't think we came by it rationally.

What would you say about extreme cases of self-sacrifice, like fighting in wars or saving your children or parents from a bullet? Do we come by that rationally, or is that also evolutionary?

In my opinion, altruism is more sane than self-preservation, even though it is probably also an evolved emotional mechanism. It shows that despite one's evolved feelings of self-importance, one is aware on some level that one really ain't all that.

Given the vastness of the universe, and the number of people alive, I think it's highly delusional to protect one's self, especially at a risk or deliberate harm to others; this behavior indicates a belief, at least at the level of instinct, that one is a special snowflake. I don't think any individual's life memories, knowledge or world view is likely to be so unique and important that it's worth saving. And even if you happen to be an Einstein, it's hard to argue that in a universe with trillions of stars, even the welfare of the entire human species (or life on Earth) is likely to matter much.