A thought on Rationality

Rationality: the quality or state of being rational.

            Rational: having reason or understanding.

            We have a situation where the definition is in need of a definition. I would define rationality as the state of evaluating choices based upon their merits and faults, ultimately deciding which choice to make in accordance with what will make the individual the best off. The merits and faults are determined by somewhat subjective preferences and beliefs.

            The other question, do people make choices rationally when it comes to beliefs and are these choices maximizing their utility. Rationality by its very nature is a complete entity, so what is an irrational decision by an otherwise rational person? Is it gambling with a lot of money at a Casino? Is it supporting a deadbeat child or parent? Or is it sinking more money into a failing business? What about faith?

            Faith I would argue is a very simple rationality for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism: I believe in God because he is real and if I do not believe in him correctly I will suffer eternally. Indeed the entire core of Evangelism in Christianity rests on the effort to convince someone they are currently wrong and their only path to salvation is another path. Other faiths I am too unfamiliar with to make any claim to, but I can imagine that Buddhism's concept of Karma offers a similar incentive.

            These other particular situations seem irrational. Upon inspection they are not. A person gambling with large amounts of money simply values entertainment more (absent gambling addiction of course). People who prop up noncontributing family members either strongly value the relationship or value duty towards their family members more heavily. It is also quite possible that people are rationalizing their current situation to match their own beliefs. To truly decide what is occurring we need complete information on each case, there could be no aggregate in this method to answer the question.

            So let's ask different questions, what would the world be like if people were not rational? If individuals did not make choices to do the best with the resources available what would the world look like? Probably a lot like the world we live in now, minus people. For many years we had a persistent situation where two vast nuclear arsenals stood in opposition to each other. If people did not seek to do the best with what they had, then what is survival, what is the motive to survive?

            Rational behavior is a creation of a being that desires to survive. We behave rationally in order to maximize our ability and desire to survive. What is the best way to survive? Thrive. How do people thrive? They optimize their decisions to create situations of abundance. 

          There is one very large problem with ultra-rational approaches to reality: other people. We must keep in mind that this is a very selfish entity and not very concerned with others outside of our sphere. Abundance  is a relative view, and the more people you have in that view the less abundant things are.