I think if we look at the tagline, the most obvious causes things that either increase our understanding of ratonality in the sense of pushing back new boundaries and increasing the ‘maximum possible rationality’, or things that increase individuals’ rationality so that it approaches or reaches the current maximum rationality. The first is research, the latter generally education or consciousness-raising.
I think there’s also a question of whether we can increase rationality in key areas, ranging from academic disciplines which are likely to be important or political decision making. I should declare an interest here: one of my own reasons for being here (possibly a retrospective justification because I just find it interesting) is that I work in the British civil service. There’s a drive for ‘evidence based policy’, analysis of whether reforms are succesful etc., and I think there are interesting arguments to be had about how to best be rational as an individual cog in a policy making machine, and if the machine itself can be tweaked to give better results.
I think if we look at the tagline, the most obvious causes things that either increase our understanding of ratonality in the sense of pushing back new boundaries and increasing the ‘maximum possible rationality’, or things that increase individuals’ rationality so that it approaches or reaches the current maximum rationality. The first is research, the latter generally education or consciousness-raising.
I think there’s also a question of whether we can increase rationality in key areas, ranging from academic disciplines which are likely to be important or political decision making. I should declare an interest here: one of my own reasons for being here (possibly a retrospective justification because I just find it interesting) is that I work in the British civil service. There’s a drive for ‘evidence based policy’, analysis of whether reforms are succesful etc., and I think there are interesting arguments to be had about how to best be rational as an individual cog in a policy making machine, and if the machine itself can be tweaked to give better results.