Akots asked:
I wonder... is the human race inherantly rational? Or are we slowly becoming more and more irrational as time goes on?
I think we are inherantly rational; at least at the most fundamental and base level. As animals, we're driven by survival instincts, which may be cold and harsh at time, but are not irrational. We know that if we don't address that empty feeling in our stomachs, we will stop living. We know that we can kill something and ingest it, and that empty feeling will go away. We don't hang from a tree branch to let the emptiness leak out of us onto the forest floor. We know that there is a certain activity that feels really good, and oh by the way, when we participate in that activity new ones of us arrive shortly thereafter. We don't dance around rocks, hoping they will turn into children.
But as human animals, we've developed higher brain functions. We communicate more efficiently and on a much higher scale. And as a result, our lives have become much easier, allowing time for reflection, contemplation, and questions. We are not consumed with the business of survival anymore, and the door is open for great ideas to be introduced as well for monumental nonsense to flourish.
Now as individuals, we have the capacity to examine everything rationally and discard the BS, as I'd wager most of us that participate in this forum do. But as a collective, the signs often point to an acceptance of the nonsense, which would speak to the second part of your question, Akots.
This phenomenon may be an offshoot of ignorance or it may be just plain laziness, but it's another luxury of our softer existence. In many instances, we're irrational simply because we can be.
Anyone else have a thought?
