Great post. I too am in strong disagreement with those who are skeptical of rationality’s instrumental value. I find my life greatly enhanced by my (I believe) higher than average level of rationality.
These are some examples of ways rationality improved my life:
I don’t go to religious services. Many people in my family attend services every week, and are bored to tears by it, but they feel guilty if they skip. My relative rationality leads to a major increase in happiness, since my Sunday mornings are totally free. (I had to attend church twice a week as a child and I hated it). I also have fewer ethical hangups generally speaking, leading to less experience of guilt and shame. I did experience these when I was younger and still woefully irrational, so it probably isn’t just a matter of disposition.
I invest in an index fund (since they significantly outperform managed funds) to take advantage of compounding interest. Stunningly few people actually do this. I also bought in when the market was at a low (other non-professionals irrationally sell low and buy high).
I address health issues like diet and exercise using scientific evidence, rather than expensive hokum like televised “fat burners”.
There are many more examples, but I think that illustrates my point. I’m sure that most other people on LW behave similarly on these issues. But often, people don’t credit their rationality (good software) with their success, but rather their hardware (high intelligence).
I address health issues like diet and exercise using scientific evidence, rather than expensive hokum like televised “fat burners”.
I voted you up, but I’m going to challenge you on this issue and see where this goes. What, precisely did the “scientific evidence” you relied on consist of? Did you consult Wikipedia? a certified nutritionist? PubMed? Did you do any tests to see whether the source(s) you used are trustworthy?
Great post. I too am in strong disagreement with those who are skeptical of rationality’s instrumental value. I find my life greatly enhanced by my (I believe) higher than average level of rationality.
These are some examples of ways rationality improved my life:
I don’t go to religious services. Many people in my family attend services every week, and are bored to tears by it, but they feel guilty if they skip. My relative rationality leads to a major increase in happiness, since my Sunday mornings are totally free. (I had to attend church twice a week as a child and I hated it). I also have fewer ethical hangups generally speaking, leading to less experience of guilt and shame. I did experience these when I was younger and still woefully irrational, so it probably isn’t just a matter of disposition.
I invest in an index fund (since they significantly outperform managed funds) to take advantage of compounding interest. Stunningly few people actually do this. I also bought in when the market was at a low (other non-professionals irrationally sell low and buy high).
I address health issues like diet and exercise using scientific evidence, rather than expensive hokum like televised “fat burners”.
There are many more examples, but I think that illustrates my point. I’m sure that most other people on LW behave similarly on these issues. But often, people don’t credit their rationality (good software) with their success, but rather their hardware (high intelligence).
I voted you up, but I’m going to challenge you on this issue and see where this goes. What, precisely did the “scientific evidence” you relied on consist of? Did you consult Wikipedia? a certified nutritionist? PubMed? Did you do any tests to see whether the source(s) you used are trustworthy?