Hi there! February is upon us, and I want to start the month of love with a conversation about rationality and rational choice. But first..

Weekly Inventory Check:

Discipline does not mean never faltering. It means faltering less than average so you are net positive by the end of the year. This week, why not try making a list of all the times we faltered this year. Read it, grasp it. Next, draft a list of all the things that worked out so far and compare the two. If the aggregate suggests you are better off, then don’t beat yourself up over the slip-ups. Remember: no judgement.

Is Love Rational?

I joined a Philosophy Meetup this year and the topic was Love (befitting for the first newsletter of February). We delved into a lot of discussions revolving around why we fall in love and the difference between romance and love. A particular point made by someone stayed with me. They said that the more they ponder over why they do what they do, the less romantic they feel towards people. This brings me to today’s topic. Some might say that this person is becoming more rational and love isn’t a rational phenomenon. Hence, I wanted to clarify what rationality means. (Spoiler: it doesn’t mean selfishness and heartlessness)

Rationality essentially means acting upon reason or logic. This gave birth to Rational Choice, the fundamental theory behind Economics. People seek maximum benefit and would do everything to maximise their utility. This picture paints a dark image of what it means to be a rational being. You are a heartless, self-serving person who only looks out for themselves. To refute this concept, people have run all kinds of experiments. A famous example entailed people throwing wallets full of money on to the streets. Most people who found these wallets returned them to the police station.

This counters the misconception of ‘rationality’ which would otherwise suggest that all individuals would take the money and keep it for themselves to maximise their own utility. Hence, while for many, utility is mistaken for dollars or happiness, for others, it could be their relationships, or another kind of good that just isn’t material. Others are often confused when they see people falling in love and doing selfless, irrational things for others. What they fail to see is that, for that person, making someone else happy maximizes their utility and hence the rational thing to do.

Do you agree or disagree? Shoot me an email. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Want More?

Rational doesn’t mean Logical at all times. It is understanding what drives us to do things. However, being too logical sometimes can be detrimental to your communication.

However, inculcating Logic in to your communication isn’t entirely bad either. to add into your communication either. Listen to Logical Love talk about it.

Dr Brogaard writes about rationality and love. I would encourage a read of both articles.

Read of the Week

Rationality by Steven Pinker is a great read pertinent to the topic of Rationality. This book talks about the rational tools we can immerse in our everyday life. I am having a blast reading this book this week. It shows that the basics of probability and statistics should be a must learn for us as a species.

Thoughts to Leave you With

Rationality might seem cold and calculated, like facts and logic. But just how we found compassionate leadership, sustainable economics, and various other tools and concepts which brought the human element into the equation, we want to do the same with rationality. It is not how people perceive it to be. Rather, it is using a framework to navigate your life and the content within the frameworks is defined by you, the individual.