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Expressive Rationality

Have been reading some essays by Betrand Russell recently and ran into this little gem I had first read in my teens  - the opening lines of An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish:

 Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. Throughout a long life, I have looked diligently for evidence in favour of this statement, but so far I have not had the good fortune to come across it, though I have searched in many countries spread over three continents. On the contrary, I have seen the world plunging continually further into madness. I have seen great nations, formerly leaders of civilization, led astray by preachers of bombastic nonsense.

 Every line of this essay feels universally true of all humanity at all times. That was the feeling that hit me upon that first reading in high school and not much has changed in all these years. Nice essay here that shares that very sentiment where the author describes "expressive rationality" - a kind of rationality that does appear to exist in the world.

 The tragedy of the belief commons arises because there are times when it is rational for each of us as individuals to hold certain beliefs not because of how the world is but because of who we are or want to be. We are not just a social species; we are a tribal one as well, with our group identities giving purpose and meaning to our lives. But being a member of a group involves believing certain things that non-members by definition don’t, and if holding that belief boils down to a contest between reality and our sense of self or the esteem of our peers, well, so much the worse for reality.

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