So rationality is desirable because it gets rid of crap? What if crap makes me happy? What if my entire culture is based on crap?
Is there a paper here that addresses this meta-question of "why be rational?" I can think of many reasons, but mostly it seems to come down to this: rationality confers power. Bertrand Russell called Western thought "power thought," which seems pretty accurate. Rationality is good because it wins, and eliminates the competition. I haven't had any conversations with any pre-rational Stone Agers lately, though they were once common in my neighborhood. Did they lose a philosophical debate with rationalists, or were they simply exterminated?
So it seems to me that the lasting appeal of irrationality, spirituality, religion, etc. is that, for some strange reason, people aren't quite comfortable worshipping this Terminator-like god of reason.
EDIT: I take it from the response that people here don't want to discuss this meta-question? Is rationality perhaps a sacred cow which plays a role similar to God in other faiths?
Is there a paper here that addresses this meta-question of "why be rational?"
Yes.
Short version: What do you want? That is your reason to be rational.
I can think of many reasons, but mostly it seems to come down to this: rationality confers power. Bertrand Russell called Western thought "power thought," which seems pretty accurate.
That seems accurate to you, because power is what you want. You have said this explicitly yourself: "Well I just want to rule the world." Because power is what you want, you assume that it is w...
Today's post, Your Rationality is My Business was originally published on April 15, 2007. A summary (from the LW wiki):
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