Rationality is a very fluid concept. By that i imply, what is rational to one, might not be rational to another.Let me elaborate a little.
Humans are primarily the result of what they have been told and taught, and what they have been sold and bought. Every person has been hypnotized to some degree either by ideas he
has accepted from others or ideas he has convinced himself are true. These are also reffred to as "Mistaken Certainties" which are nothing but wishful thinking, which distorts reality and leads to self-deception. We want things to be as we would like them to be rather than as they are. We look at the world, filtered by our beliefs, which blinds us to what is real.
An eminent philospher,Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are what we think all day long" to put it more clearly we accept, relate or reject EVERYTHING in our mental and physical environment based on our PRESENT level of AWARENESS.
our present level of awareness is determined by our education, environment, family life, childhood experiences, successes, failures and religious beliefs.So there is a huge possibility of it being faulty or distorted.
Intellectually, we may agree that there are things in our life that we
should change, but we almost always feel that our situation is different from everyone else’s. This causes us to avoid, resist and, if necessary, forcibly reject any idea that threatens our beliefs. Take, for example, the alcoholic. From his viewpoint of life, it seems rational to continue drinking. The drug user, the compulsive gambler and the compulsive eater all feel the same way about their respective addictions.They rationalize their actions based on their present level of awareness,however faulty it may be.
So in the end i just want to say....
"In everything one thing is impossible: rationality." -Friedrich Nietzsche
-By suyash(p30050)
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3 comments:
As you said rationality from the individual point of view may differ. And so it may be termed as 'Convenient rationality'. But if an objective view is taken for example Coming to our daily classes at least 2 minutes before the session starts, it seems a rational decision on the part of the participants. But some may argue that he might have to skip her/his breakfast to follow this routine.So its better for him to follow a schedule keeping in mind 9 am deadline where the probability of being late is high but his/her belly will be full than to be at 8:58 am and be on the safer side.
A valuable post, I'd say, especially the lines "Humans are primarily the result of what they have been told and taught, and what they have been sold and bought. Every person has been hypnotized to some degree either by ideas he
has accepted from others or ideas he has convinced himself are true. "
Well put forward.
A good idea is how the current cut throat competition has made the companies come up with ads that promise a world to their customer. The very idea of reality that the consumer holds is undergoing a change (and very random at that). People are shown rather hypnotized into believing how if they buy a certain product or take certain service, their life would become better. And all this is backed up by huge research projects working into the background on the psychoanalysis of the potential customers. The rationality goes for a hit then. A student who may have saved money to buy books may end up buying the latest fashion item. This is further accentuated by the extravagant use of credit. People, knowing fully well that they'd be going out their budget still purchase goods and services believing that this latest gadget is a must have. I'm no critic the use of credit. But what is noteworthy here is that how the very idea of rationality has changed in the light of external factors.
I may have missed a few points here. So would appreciate if someone could build up on it or could correct me if I am wrong.
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