tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-715339341803133734.post3195136626676819140..comments2023-08-18T04:14:50.151-05:00Comments on Maximum Entropy: Is Rationality Desirable?Tom Campbell-Rickettshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07387943617652130729noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-715339341803133734.post-31556232207258850592013-09-15T22:57:13.619-05:002013-09-15T22:57:13.619-05:00Yup. Humanity is a messy business, isn't it. W...Yup. Humanity is a messy business, isn't it. We do risky things, because they can be fun. I climb mountains, and its hard to say confidently that I genuinely benefit from this (quite often, one begins to seriously question this, about half way up), but I like mountains (and I don't like giving up half way through!)<br /><br />I don't claim to be particularly rational. I don't claim my behaviour is especially coherent. But I suspect that life without many of these seemingly irrational behaviours really might be a poorer life in real, measurable ways. In any case, we get more value by applying a more sophisticated methodology to our madness! <br /><br />The other thing I wanted to get across is that rationality is only a tool, and necessarily a tool. Once it ceases to be useful, it ceases to be rationality. Probability theory and numbers are the wrong tools to employ where they don't bring us closer to our goals (e.g. when a lion is chasing me, I won't stop to work out a detailed probability model). Tom Campbell-Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07387943617652130729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-715339341803133734.post-19635482754859734612013-09-15T14:12:24.464-05:002013-09-15T14:12:24.464-05:00That's an interesting post Tom. As a secular h...That's an interesting post Tom. As a secular humanist sceptic I sometimes think I run my life in a rational manner, but of course none of us do entirely. For instance when I am riding my motorcycle, I'm a pretty careful rider and rarely travel at custodial speeds, but when I do I certainly think about it before doing it. Then again the choice of an antiquated italian motorcycle, and indeed riding a motorcycle, may in itself be profoundly irrational. <br /><br />There is more to life than numbers and probability, but I do try to think with my brain and not my gut. Maybe one needs a regular dose of irrationality to have a fun life? I do. Scottynoreply@blogger.com