Is Rational Thinking for Everyone?

[leo]

Of course not. Rational thinking is a alien thing to Eve .

[SkepticOfMyOwnMind]

I don't know if everyone is capable of being rational.

Sometimes I feel like some people need someone they can trust to be rational for them.

Other times I think being intelligent a basic concern of every human. An intrinsic responsibility, so to speak.

It depends what you're referring to by the term "rational thinking".

It's hard to make a good choice about an issue you have no/little experience with, e.g. an inexperienced politician may appear irrational when they speak out against gay rights or publicly let a corporation kill jobs in their constituency. An inexperienced programmer may appear irrational when they overcomplicate their programs. A new parent may appear irrational when they attempt to feed a baby cow milk rather than breast milk or infant formula.

Their flawed perspectives, however, portray their actions as rational and well-founded. The politician may think that the bonuses from conservatives or corporations override the bad press and ire they'll receive. The programmer may not know how to keep track of their variables, or they may not be familiar with common, simplifying patterns in programming. The new parent may have little or no education about raising a child, being unaware of the relative benefits of infant formula (e.g. nutrients) or breast milk (e.g. antibodies). These people each applied their limited knowledge to make a rational decision, from their POV.

Beyond that, you need to consider that some people get trapped in an irrational mindset. People can grow to excessively distrust their own reasoning, senses, or others' honesty, and this can prevent an entirely rational train of thought further down the road. People undergo brainwashing and other psychological manipulation that subordinates their good sense to someone else's greed.

Do you believe that all of these people are at fault for their failure to reason properly?

[SGOS]

Do you believe that all of these people are at fault for their failure to reason properly?

That's a bit of a leading question because you are describing many situations and some interpretations of irrationality that technically are not irrational, but just mistakes or examples of ignorance.  For example, a politician cannot be identified as irrational for speaking out against something like gay marriage until his reasoning is examined.  Until then it's just a position he opposes.  A person cannot be identified as irrational, or rational, without testing his arguments.

Even if a person holds an irrational belief, you might not call him an irrational person, although at least one of his particular beliefs is most definitely irrational.  

I thought your post was a good one, as it leads to thinking about what rational and irrational means.  This is a very important point, and one which Christians often miss by a mile.  In conversations with them, what I often glean is that "logical" simply identifies something they believe, and has nothing to do with testing their reasoning for logical fallacies.  When, I've asked them to explain the logic, they usually don't respond.  I think this is not just blowing off the query.  It's just a total lack of the understanding of what logical processes involve.  They remain silent because they have no understanding of how one would test reasoning for logic, or least of all why someone would ever do it.

Of course some Christians just admit their beliefs are not logical, and proceed forward as if logic is some trivial matter that is best ignored.  LOL

[josephpalazzo]

I don't know if everyone is capable of being rational.

Sometimes I feel like some people need someone they can trust to be rational for them.

Other times I think being intelligent a basic concern of every human. An intrinsic responsibility, so to speak.

It depends what you're referring to by the term "rational thinking".

It's hard to make a good choice about an issue you have no/little experience with, e.g. an inexperienced politician may appear irrational when they speak out against gay rights or publicly let a corporation kill jobs in their constituency. An inexperienced programmer may appear irrational when they overcomplicate their programs. A new parent may appear irrational when they attempt to feed a baby cow milk rather than breast milk or infant formula.

Their flawed perspectives, however, portray their actions as rational and well-founded. The politician may think that the bonuses from conservatives or corporations override the bad press and ire they'll receive. The programmer may not know how to keep track of their variables, or they may not be familiar with common, simplifying patterns in programming. The new parent may have little or no education about raising a child, being unaware of the relative benefits of infant formula (e.g. nutrients) or breast milk (e.g. antibodies). These people each applied their limited knowledge to make a rational decision, from their POV.

Beyond that, you need to consider that some people get trapped in an irrational mindset. People can grow to excessively distrust their own reasoning, senses, or others' honesty, and this can prevent an entirely rational train of thought further down the road. People undergo brainwashing and other psychological manipulation that subordinates their good sense to someone else's greed.

Do you believe that all of these people are at fault for their failure to reason properly?

Thanks for reiterating what I had already posted, but you did it more elaborately.