Enemies of rationality
Below is a list of values and behaviors that make us want truth less.
It’s taken from my personal newsletter where I write about the emotional side of rationality.
I believe Ideamarket can succeed where others have failed, because it’s designed to solve the problem at the emotional level — it’s designed to help us want truth more, at scale.
Without further ado, here’s the list. It’s far from comprehensive, and it brings good news too: We can become significantly smarter by eradicating these from ourselves, no matter our intellectual gifts.
Values that make us less rational
Fashionableness in the eyes of others — To the extent we are concerned with staying stylish, making sure we are properly adorned with the beliefs and attitudes and values of our cultural instant, our community, our industry, and our social circles, to that same extent we resist truths that seem to conflict with these. The conclusions of our reasoning are decided for us, as our concern for fashionableness exceeds our concern for truth. Read more:
Fashionableness in our own eyes — We tend to have a self-image; a perception of ourselves as we believe we are, and as we aspire to be. Regardless of what others may think about our fashionableness, we have our own private notions of what’s fashionable for us. We find ourselves saying “this just isn’t me,” or “this is totally me.” To the extent we’re not willing to question, defy, and amend our self image for the sake of the truth, to that same extent are the conclusions of our reasoning decided for us, because our concern for our self-image exceeds our concern for truth. Read more:
Social status — Social status can build up around us, and sneak up on our hearts. Perhaps we were minding our own business, being perfectly rational, when suddenly we have a fanbase, a career, or some measure of influence. We may never have intended to value social status, but now that we have some, it’s something we risk losing every time we speak. To the extent we refuse to lose social status for the sake of the truth, to that same extent are the conclusions of our reasoning decided for us, because our concern for our social status exceeds our desire for truth. Read more:
Emotions that make us less rational
Aversion to pain — Learning new things, changing our minds, adopting new beliefs, and discarding old beliefs, can be painful. We may realize we owe someone an apology; that we need to change our habits; that we need to end relationships; that we need to re-evaluate our entire lives and value systems. This can be extremely painful. To the extent that our desire for truth is weaker than our desire to avoid the pain of learning something new, to that same extent are the conclusions of our reasoning decided for us, as our aversion to pain exceeds our desire for truth. The pursuit of truth objectively requires courage, even if it only takes place privately in your own mind. Read more:
Behaviors that make us less rational
Harmful behavior — Harmful behavior forces us to eventually recognize that we are guilty of causing harm. Fearing this recognition, we try to hide from it, and avoid truths that reveal it to us, or remind us of it. To the extent our desire to hide our guilt is stronger than our desire for truth, to that extent are the conclusions of our reasoning decided for us, as our desire to hide from guilt exceeds our desire for truth. Causing harm immediately diminishes our desire for truth, and our ability to recognize truth. Refusing to cause harm, as best we can, protects us from this wholly unnecessary diminution of our rational faculties. Read more:
Lying — When we lie, we increase our dependence on falsehood. As a result, we fear truth more, and value it less. Lying is a type of harmful behavior, but I wanted to mention it separately because a lot of harmful behavior either seems irrelevant (you probably haven’t murdered anyone lately) or confusing (where’s the line between “food addiction” and just plain eating?). By contrast, lying is clear and straightforward, and comes in shapes and sizes fit for every lifestyle — from “I didn’t murder anyone” to “Yes honey, I brushed my teeth.” Utterly refusing to lie is a clear and straightforward opportunity, available to everyone, to practice increasing our trust in and dependence on truth. Read more:
Judgment of others — The more we judge others, the more judgment we implicitly tell ourselves we would deserve if we were just like them. Therefore, the more we judge others, the more we will fear discovering similar truths about ourselves. For example, If I hate someone for being lazy, then I have taught myself “lazy people deserve to be hated.” This makes it extremely difficult for me to notice if I’m being lazy, since by my own decree “lazy people deserve to be hated.” By refusing to judge others, we can keep ourselves safe from self-judgment, so that we aren’t afraid to learn truths that are about ourselves.
True intellectual freedom — willingness to accept any truth, no matter how unfashionable or discomforting — seems to be a far more decisive factor in rationality than IQ, knowledge, or expertise.
Ideamarket invites you to demonstrate your intellectual freedom.
Mainnet launch of the new product is now only days away.