I agree that it’s not necessarily irrational to feel, but I think the way we feel is clearly irrational. For example, our emotions don’t seem to work in a time-consistent manner, and we often later regret actions that we take based on strong emotions, when those emotions eventually fade away. If we could modify the way our emotions work cheaply and safely, I think many of us would probably take advantage of the opportunity. A rational agent wouldn’t wish to modify its mind like that.
Here’s another, more specific example. I sometimes feel a sense of schadenfreude when someone that I might be in status competition with publicly makes a mistake or suffers a setback of some kind. By itself, this feeling may not be irrational (except perhaps on a group level), but I simultaneously feel a disgust for myself for feeling this way, and wish that I could edit away this ugly emotion. (Until then, I have to spend some effort to keep myself from being overly critical of others.) Would anyone claim that these emotions together do not constitute irrationality?
If you consider lack-of-emotion as just another kind of emotion, it too will not be activated at the best of times. The “irrationality potency” is not in the presence of emotions, but in the imperfection of the way they act.
“For example, our emotions don’t seem to work in a time-consistent manner, and we often later regret actions that we take based on strong emotions, when those emotions eventually fade away.”
There is a rational explanation for this, i will use anger as example:
People try to not anger people who easily get angry and violent, so anger has benefits. However this can also cause other people to want to punish angry person for his violence, and here regret comes in and lowers the punishment that angry person gets.
Imagine a trial where a man found his wife sexing another man, and hit them both until they were almost dead. Which explanation will lead to a lower punishment?
“I do not know what went in to me, and have regretted doing it ever since, i hope they will some day forgive me for losing my mind for a moment”
or
“By beating them i try to make sure that both my wife and people that know us will not attempt this or any other thing that might upset me badly again”
I agree that it’s not necessarily irrational to feel, but I think the way we feel is clearly irrational. For example, our emotions don’t seem to work in a time-consistent manner, and we often later regret actions that we take based on strong emotions, when those emotions eventually fade away. If we could modify the way our emotions work cheaply and safely, I think many of us would probably take advantage of the opportunity. A rational agent wouldn’t wish to modify its mind like that.
Here’s another, more specific example. I sometimes feel a sense of schadenfreude when someone that I might be in status competition with publicly makes a mistake or suffers a setback of some kind. By itself, this feeling may not be irrational (except perhaps on a group level), but I simultaneously feel a disgust for myself for feeling this way, and wish that I could edit away this ugly emotion. (Until then, I have to spend some effort to keep myself from being overly critical of others.) Would anyone claim that these emotions together do not constitute irrationality?
If you consider lack-of-emotion as just another kind of emotion, it too will not be activated at the best of times. The “irrationality potency” is not in the presence of emotions, but in the imperfection of the way they act.
“For example, our emotions don’t seem to work in a time-consistent manner, and we often later regret actions that we take based on strong emotions, when those emotions eventually fade away.”
There is a rational explanation for this, i will use anger as example: People try to not anger people who easily get angry and violent, so anger has benefits. However this can also cause other people to want to punish angry person for his violence, and here regret comes in and lowers the punishment that angry person gets. Imagine a trial where a man found his wife sexing another man, and hit them both until they were almost dead. Which explanation will lead to a lower punishment? “I do not know what went in to me, and have regretted doing it ever since, i hope they will some day forgive me for losing my mind for a moment” or “By beating them i try to make sure that both my wife and people that know us will not attempt this or any other thing that might upset me badly again”