[extropy-chat] Mature rationality

[Jef Allbright]

Nicholas Anthony MacDonald wrote:
>  Jef Allbright wrote:
> > A rational approach to life includes both "rational" in the
> > mathematical sense, and "rational" in the pragmatic sense. We
> > INTJs have a hard time accepting this -- it's messy, but it works.
>
>
>  Precisely because it's the domain of us INTP's- we're the ones who
>  typically end up trying to figure out how to integrate man's
>  irrationality- and you end up cleaning up after us. :)
>
Integration is a key point.  I've learned and grown a lot by living with 
someone very different from myself and dealing with life experiences, 
none of which I would have chosen on a rational basis at the time.

A problem with trying to apply strict rationality is that we tend to 
paint ourselves into the corner, rationally attempting to maximize 
outcomes based on woefully incomplete knowledge.   Strict rationality 
under incomplete knowledge (and it's always incomplete knowledge) can 
lead to terrible decisions up to war and genocide.  What's typically 
missing in "rational" analysis is awareness of the Bayesian prior that 
what got us to where we are now (our evolved nature) is what worked and 
therefore carries weight as part of a successful strategy.

Another problem is the economic one.  This is why going with the flow, 
or being in the zone, is often rational in the pragmatic sense.   In 
sports or battle, or when dealing with complex real-time situations 
(read: interpersonal relations), there isn't time to effectively analyze 
the available data in a rational way.  To succeed in these situations 
one has to rely on one's "toolbox" of responses, pattern-matching to 
meet the situation rather than analyzing.

How you look at is is all a matter of context and scope, and in the 
bigger picture, it's all completely rational and what works survives and 
grows.

- Jef
http://www.jefallbright.net