[ExI] What is Rational? (BillK)

[BillK]

On 8/11/10, Keith Henson  wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 5:00 AM,  BillK  wrote:
>  > PS. When I say humans are basically irrational (with occasional
>  > moments of rational behaviour) I am not just referring to going to
>  > war. I am talking about almost every 'normal' day-to-day behaviour).
>
>  I don't believe you can make a case for this.  The majority of human
>  behavior is goal directed and in those terms, rational.
>
>


This is a fundamental difference in outlook.

Behaving irrationally is what makes people 'human'.
(As opposed to being cold emotionless calculating machines).

The whole travesty of the 'Efficient Market Theory' collapsed because
people didn't behave rationally. I am really surprised that you don't
seem to know about the many studies in psychology, marketing,
philosophy, etc. showing that human decision-making is based on
emotions, likes, dislikes, herd instinct, peer pressure, status, etc.
and not on logical analysis.
Humans are notorious for making bad decisions that damage their lives,
friends and family. You know- It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Some googling found many references to human irrational behaviour, but
this is too big a subject to be solved by quoting a couple of links.

We'll have to just view humanity from opposite poles.


BillK