Why are people "put off by rationality"?

Adam Zerner

I was reading reviews of HPMOR on Goodreads and I noticed that the people who didn't like the book were essentially "put off by the rationality". They thought Harry was arrogant and condescending.

Then I was thinking, a lot of people are "put off by rationality" for similar reasons. What a shame. There's a lot of value in spreading rationality, and this seems to be a big obstacle in doing so.

Any thoughts on how to make people less "put off by rationality"? I think the core issues are:

In some cases, people think it's rude to suggest to someone that they're wrong. (I have a vague idea of when, but am having trouble articulating it. Can anyone articulate this well?). Edit: EY has articulated (part?) of what I'm getting at. He calls it the status slapdown emotion.
People pattern-match the tone to "smart aleck"?

I was reading reviews of HPMOR on Goodreads and I noticed that the people who didn't like the book were essentially "put off by the rationality". They thought Harry was arrogant and condescending.

Then I was thinking, a lot of people are "put off by rationality" for similar reasons. What a shame. There's a lot of value in spreading rationality, and this seems to be a big obstacle in doing so.

Any thoughts on how to make people less "put off by rationality"? I think the core issues are:

In some cases, people think it's rude to suggest to someone that they're wrong. (I have a vague idea of when, but am having trouble articulating it. Can anyone articulate this well?). Edit: EY has articulated (part?) of what I'm getting at. He calls it the status slapdown emotion.
People pattern-match the tone to "smart aleck"?

Yes, Prisoner's Dilemma, but not only one-shot. You added that detail in with no attempt at justification, and it is not justifiable.

(also, games similar to Prisoner's Dilemma with explicitly cooperative and defecting strategies, but details details)

Yes, Prisoner's Dilemma, but not only one-shot. You added that detail in with no attempt at justification, and it is not justifiable.

In the iterated Prisoner's Dilemma with communication possible, defecting is a pretty stupid move. I'm sure it happens in real life on occasion, but it's the rarity and not the norm.

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Why are people "put off by rationality"?

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Why are people "put off by rationality"?

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