The word "rational" can take on a dangerous level of power.

· Bits and Bobs 12/16/24
  • The word "rational" can take on a dangerous level of power.
    • If you think of "rational" as in some sense "perfect", that's an infinity.
    • Once an infinity is introduced into an argument, everything downstream of that is absurd.
      • Anything multiplied by infinity (other than 0) is also infinity.
    • It's possible for someone labeling something as "rational" to give it an almost religious level of power.
    • Often what counts as rational is not nearly as clear as it appears; there are lots of load-bearing things hidden in the noise and "irrationality" that actually matter in practice.
      • For example, for capturing indirect effects or time-series effects.
      • Another example: if you're playing a one-off game, defecting is often the "rational" move.
      • But one-off games are extremely rare in the real world; you'll often have repeated games, with the same, or indirectly overlapping, counterparties.
      • In those cases, defecting is not rational, even though the situation seems similar!