Why is buying lottery tickets viewed as irrational while buying movie tickets rational?
Both are an opportunity for escapist fantasy. . . And you can buy one lottery ticket for each powerball drawing for a year for the cost of seeing 5-6 movies.
If someone wants to spend some of their booze and cigarette money in order to foster dreams of yachts and 40-caret diamonds—I don’t begrudge them or look down at them for that. . .
“I have had this experience several times in my life; I come across clear enough evidence that settles for me an issue I had seen long disputed. ”
What if you made an error in judgement at that point, not having access to all the relevant facts, and the particular matter under dispute is of great importance to discovering the truth about reality?
Isn’t that “settles for me” exactly what we see happening when people are unwilling to look at facts that might challenge their current mental models? Couldn’t this lead to a cul-de-sac?