[extropy-chat] Nietszche on rational irrationality

[Mike Dougherty]

On 12/4/06, Al Brooks <kerry_prez at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Nietzsche wrote, 'there are rational reasons for abandoning rationalism'.
> One could read into this, for instance, that in an irrational world behaving
> irrationally can be a plus in some circumstances. Like, say, you're at a
> seminar and everyone is gesticulating with their hands, a common yet
> irrational habit-- speech has no connection with hand movements, you might
> as well waggle your feet. However to fit in with the crowd you adopt the use
> of pointless hand waving, emphasizing certain words with a chopping or
> circular movement of the hand, and you fit in with everyone else :)


That is still a rational thought to emulate the behavior of the group.

"Speech has no connection with hand movements" ?   Perhaps not speech per
se, but communication in general often involves much more than just the
audio-track of a live performance.

Have you ever done any public speaking?  People tune-out more quickly if you
are only speaking than if you engage their other senses during the speech.
That's why gesturing to convey spatial relationships, or walking around is
so common among good public speakers.  (Obviously, it can be overdone.
Pacing incessantly for example is very distracting)
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