If people were 100% rational, would the world be better?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Imma go with ‘rational hellscape’. 

-It isn’t rational to care for the disabled, for example.

-Rearing a child with severe birth defects isn’t rational.

-Most of the things we do for fun aren’t rational.

-It isn’t rational for people to volunteer to aid disaster victims.

The list is endless. Humans are not primarily rational beings - we are rationalizing beings. Becoming 100% rational would deprive us of our humanity.

Boru

I loved hearing people's thoughts/perspectives on this. I tend to agree with Boru here. But I'm not entirely comfortable with Boru's position... I feel like he (and I) --or anybody-- hasn't pinned down exactly what it means to "be rational." That's an issue worth exploring/discussing. Nudger and others also honed in on this ambiguity.

Here is an off the cuff definition of "to be rational": To do or decide things for good reasons. Maybe as opposed to impulse or emotional urge. If this is our definition, then caring for the disabled or rearing a child with severe birth defects may qualify as rational. After all, in these instances, you are doing things for "good reasons" rather than an urge or emotional disposition. Nobody cares for the disabled "on a whim," after all. 

Not that that counts as a counterargument to what Boru said... but I think our difference in perspective shows that we define "being rational" somewhat differently. I do get his point that emotional urges may be the primary motivator (a mother's compassion) involved in caring for a deformed child. But there are also competing impulses that might give us an emotional urge to "put the thing out of its misery." Rationality can be a mediating factor between these impulses that allows us to weigh one urge against the other and come to the best decision.

I 100% agree with Boru that things like "fun" ... "goofing off"... "joking around"... these things seriously enhance our lives. And yet, we don't do these "for a reason"-- and thus, by my definition, they don't count as rational. But they are indispensable. So, in the final analysis, I think 100% rational society would be a hellscape.

Agreeing with me is 100% rational.

Boru