Re: virus: Rationality

Dave Pape (davepape@dial.pipex.com)
Thu, 27 Feb 1997 19:26:00 GMT


Tony Hindle wrote:

>Dave Pape wrote;
>> My post thus boils down to "brains aren't
>>logical, if they act 'rational'ly, then they're simulating, approximating,
>>logical processing in a parallel and non-logical computing environment to do
>>it."
>Are you saying that our
>evolutionary shaped minds are not rational.

Not logical, not in the way they process information. We haven;t agreed on a
definition of "rational" yet. I don't think we're objectively rational, but
I have to bow to the concept of observer-defined subjective rationality.

>Any rationality is
>the result of "memetic software written on our irational
>biological minds". If so I would agree.

I'm with you apart from "written", which implies the existence of a writer.
I think you have to say "emerging from the action of" instead of "written
on", because if there IS a writer, well shit, how does THEIR software work?

> Here 1) refers to some one culturaly different, or a baby
>(no memetic software). Note that for case 1) if we can know the
>"irrational" person's memetic program we could attempt to
>simulate it in our brains and if we got the same "output" (which
>we surely would since we both posses the basic irrational
>biology) we would not say they were irrational. In otherwords we
>would say, "that is what I would do if I was in his/her
>position." (if I knew nothing, had never seen light before, had
>only ever heard my cosy mum's heartbeat and had just had my head
>squashed to half its usual size. I would definately scream, shit
>and piss myself.

Oh yeh, probably for a couple of years. But.. I don't think this is like,
completely the whole holistic reason, man.

Hmm... I'd say though that there's no switch between all irrational and all
rational... I'd say you learn a modulating level of rationality in loads of
different contexts.

> I think the following might make sense in a strange,
>circular bootstrapping way:
>
> The purpose to which we all apply our "rationality" is to
>maximise our contentment.
> Our "contentment" is that which we use our rationality to
>maximuse.

Plus, the behaviour we see that leads to things that'd make us content... we
call rational.

> If this makes no sense Dave, just take a big toke and
>read it again 8).

Jah Rastafari.

Dave Pape
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