The Sharp Sword of Rationality

Wielded by an expert, the sharp sword of rationality cuts deep, exposing underlying layers of confusion, intellectual laziness, or willful misunderstanding in what might on the surface appear to be logical arguments.

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  11/15  at  10:47 AM

I used to think that Jenny McCarthy was HOT, but intelligence, or lack thereof, I have found does have an effect on attractiveness. The question that I ponder in relation to these irrationalities is: Who or what does the "dumbing down of America" benefit? To state, "No one" is not true because why, then, would this ignorance be allowed to proliferate?

Posted by EmbraceUnity  on  11/24  at  01:26 PM

Stupidity benefits the stupid. Anti-intellectualism occurs for the same reasons that other sorts of demographically-based movements do. It brings a sense of power, identity, etc.

Movements like fascism, fundamentalism, etc often rely on the desperate need of certain segments of the population that require simple explanations. Repeating comforting truisms is easier than thinking.

Personally, when it comes to facing the cold reality of certain things (like relationships), I sometimes consciously choose to suspend disbelief and become absorbed into an illusion. This urge is actually often called Romanticism, and both fascism and fundamentalism are rooted in it.

When lovers say "I want it to be this way forever," that is a manifestation of this urge. It is a reaction to change, and a seeking of comfort in the past or tradition or feel-good truisms.

That urge, while inherently irrational, isn't necessarily dangerous... only when it is applied to politics and social affairs does it begin to cause problems. Of course some think such irrationality shouldn't even invade the space of our personal affairs, but that, I think, is debatable considering the harm principle is not violated.

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