- Joined
- Jan 8, 2010
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One of the common assumptions about human behavior I see all the time here is that people are rational and act rationally.
I am not so sure this is true. Only half of our conscious mind, for example is devoted to things like logic and math. Then there is the right side and in addition to that, you have other parts of the brain controlling instincts, emotions, etc.
Further evidence to cause my doubt is that consistently on this website, predictions of politics, economic activity, and other mass human behavior are just plain dead wrong. People as of yet have been unable to consistently apply any philosophy to predict how people behave. This, I think, is why all societies end up being mixed models (some socialism, some capitalism, some of this and some of that) because all philosophies are inadequate and fundamentally so. The main flaw in my opinion is that they rely on conscious choice and free will way too much.
Thirdly, people do stupid irrational **** all the time. Look at the Darwin awards for example. People are consistently doing stuff that there is no good reason to do, deliberately. Women who gravitate towards abusive relationships are another good example. There is no reason to do that.
My view is that people are simply a mix of drives with some logic at the surface which may or may not do any good. Human will power and choice is also limited by this. Relying on people to do the right thing will never work as a result.
So, what are your thoughts and if you agree, what's a better way to understand society and its needs?
I am not so sure this is true. Only half of our conscious mind, for example is devoted to things like logic and math. Then there is the right side and in addition to that, you have other parts of the brain controlling instincts, emotions, etc.
Further evidence to cause my doubt is that consistently on this website, predictions of politics, economic activity, and other mass human behavior are just plain dead wrong. People as of yet have been unable to consistently apply any philosophy to predict how people behave. This, I think, is why all societies end up being mixed models (some socialism, some capitalism, some of this and some of that) because all philosophies are inadequate and fundamentally so. The main flaw in my opinion is that they rely on conscious choice and free will way too much.
Thirdly, people do stupid irrational **** all the time. Look at the Darwin awards for example. People are consistently doing stuff that there is no good reason to do, deliberately. Women who gravitate towards abusive relationships are another good example. There is no reason to do that.
My view is that people are simply a mix of drives with some logic at the surface which may or may not do any good. Human will power and choice is also limited by this. Relying on people to do the right thing will never work as a result.
So, what are your thoughts and if you agree, what's a better way to understand society and its needs?
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