I consider a rationalist self-image to be harmful. You are irrational. You have always been irrational. Barring major brain modification, you will always be irrational. Aspire to be less wrong, but don’t believe you are.
Yes, and I aspire towards rationalism. But to self-identify as a rationalist is to think that I am something that other people are not.
Among my social group, I care the most about cognitive biases and spend the most visible effort trying to overcome them. I most strongly signal the traits of a rationalist. Does that mean I am better at making decisions than my friends? No. I make an effort to spend time around people who are more intelligent and accomplished than I am. I expect their opinions to be, on average, better informed than mine (at minimum in their area of expertise).
The primary effect of considering myself to be a rationalist would be to dismiss the opinions of non-rationalists and hold my own opinions in higher esteem. I expect that to make my decisions worse, not better.
ETA: I understand the usefulness of self-identity in developing and maintaining constructive habits. I understand a rationalist might use this property of self-identity to their advantage (for example, by self-identifying as “a safe pair of hands”). But I don’t believe that identifying as a rationalist qua rationalist would lead me to constructively better habits.
I consider a rationalist self-image to be harmful. You are irrational. You have always been irrational. Barring major brain modification, you will always be irrational. Aspire to be less wrong, but don’t believe you are.
Rationalism is not the endpoint but a direction.
Yes, and I aspire towards rationalism. But to self-identify as a rationalist is to think that I am something that other people are not.
Among my social group, I care the most about cognitive biases and spend the most visible effort trying to overcome them. I most strongly signal the traits of a rationalist. Does that mean I am better at making decisions than my friends? No. I make an effort to spend time around people who are more intelligent and accomplished than I am. I expect their opinions to be, on average, better informed than mine (at minimum in their area of expertise).
The primary effect of considering myself to be a rationalist would be to dismiss the opinions of non-rationalists and hold my own opinions in higher esteem. I expect that to make my decisions worse, not better.
ETA: I understand the usefulness of self-identity in developing and maintaining constructive habits. I understand a rationalist might use this property of self-identity to their advantage (for example, by self-identifying as “a safe pair of hands”). But I don’t believe that identifying as a rationalist qua rationalist would lead me to constructively better habits.
I believe you and Lumifer both mean rationality, not rationalism which is the name of a completely different philosophical position.