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

[Angrboda]

FACT: A person can be in a state of existential anguish. I take a Spinozist (hard determinist) vantagepoint when analyzing such a situation. Spinoza would say that a despairing person has "inadequate ideas." Those ideas ought to be replaced with (surprise!) adequate ideas. "Christ" is an internal symbol that can serve as such an adequate idea. Ultimately, it has its limits as an idea. Spinoza would say there are more adequate ideas THAN it. But he would also agree... in the final analysis... that the idea of Christ is more adequate than the idea of inescapable despair. The wise person selects the most adequate idea available. Period.

I'm reminded of the maxim in mental health counseling that a crisis is when a person does not believe themselves capable of managing their current situation. It's less a question of things being out of control than it is of one not believing that one has sufficient control over things to manage the situation. That's very similar in that the goal is not to change the situation but change one's beliefs about the situation. Just spitballing, but it does open up the possibility that such crises are created by the same forces which can resolve them, that perhaps choosing inadequate ideas can lead to the need for such a leap of faith. That also makes sense of the intuition that people who are poor in resources, less mentally capable, or in difficult circumstances are more prone to seeing such leaps as advantageous. It is much easier to grab hold of the idea that one's life is beyond their ability to manage if there is an impoverishment of resources in general. A person who is depressed and sees no hope is prime for such a leap.