Irrationality


Ciro

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Irrationality.

Irrationality is the reaching of a decision or conclusion that is not the best decision or conclusion that could have been reached in the light of the evidence, given the time constraints that apply.

Lately, I keep thinking that man irrationality is not all bad after all.

Sometimes, I find my-self saying" ho! God, how could I have done that"

But then turns out to be that I made a good decision.

Could it be that sometime our irrationality is not other than our subconscious decision to take under control, and guide us, in a way that our conscious mind is not able to do any more?

sounds too crazy?

CD.

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Ciro,

What you describe is called "gut instinct," which Rand called her "stomach feelings."

(Incidentally, how's that phrase for something only an Objectivist would come up with? Put a cliche through the washer and dryer. "Gut" is in poor taste because of the scatological implication, so you move it to the stomach - pre-shit so to speak //;-)) - and "instinct" is a dirty word in Objectivist jargon when talking about human beings, so you change it to "feeling.")

Anyway, going with a gut instinct is not irrational in the sense of negating rationality. It is temporarily allowing yourself the benefit of your prerational and subconscious knowledge without filtering it through reason. It is a choice.

To be clear, whenever you commit to an act on a "stomach feeling," your reason can kick in whenever you wish, especially if things go completely haywire. Reason is not so available - it is not so easily waiting in the wings - when you do a completely irrational (reason-negating) act, like a temper tamtrum, for example.

Michael

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Michael you write:It is temporarily allowing yourself the benefit of your prerational and subconscious knowledge without filtering it through reason. It is a choice.

I have made many choices like that, Michael. Choices that today would not be appropriate. Choices made on feelings, choices made more on a raw mind than on an erudite one, but choices nevertheless, which turned out to be so right that I could not be happier than what I am today.

I think that unless we live our life--it doesn't matter how much we know

and how much reasoning we do-- things could always turn out differently than what we have previously thought . I am not talking about man's fallibility here, but choices that we would not make because considered wrong based on

an ethical philosofic system, or of a religious one. So I would say that even a philosophy could not fit everyone the same. We can only compare man to man on how many similarities they have in common, but no two men will ever be similar. And no one can tell me that by doing what Ayn Rand, or Jesus said, will make us at the end happy!

CD

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Ciro,

Dayaamm!

Are you telling me that you sometimes make decisions in a dishonestevasivesecondhandersocialmetaphysicianintrinsicistsubjectivistfaithbase

attilawitchdoctor type manner?

You are very close to eternal repudiation!

Repent! Repent! Repent!

You can never become whole again, but you might be able to salvage a part of you mind...

Michael

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Michael: Are you telling me that you sometimes make decisions in a dishonestevasivesecondhandersocialmetaphysicianintrinsicistsubjectivistfaithbase

attilawitchdoctor type manner?

wow! Michael, that's what I said? I thought i was a good person. Dayaamm!

BTW, I got it! thank you my friend!!!

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Ciro,

Hey, where are you going? You think you're done?

That's ALL?

You do a monstrously evil despicable lowdown dirty-rotten death-premise thing like that and now you want to get off without even a GUILT TRIP?

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

You need to suffer, dude. Suffer right down into your self-esteem. Suffer so much that you'll never forget your lapse into irrationality! Yeah. That's right. Suffer until you can't stand it. Until you scream for mercy. Then suffer some more!

And don't you dare be potent during this time, either!

Michael

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