This category of posts regards the serious and widespread epidemic of dysrationalia in the world. Here’s the definition of the term, as listed at Wikipedia:
Dysrationalia is defined as the inability to think and behave rationally despite adequate intelligence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysrationalia
To put it succinctly, rational thinking is thinking that jibes with reality. Whether that reality be manifest in fact or in logic, the rational thinker will be firmly grounded in both. That is, he or she will not insist that it is Tuesday in the presence of credible evidence that it is not Tuesday. Nor will he or she insist that since all dogs are mammals, all mammals are dogs. This is because such an argument is a non sequitur; the conclusion simply does not follow the premise.
Fortunately for the world, high IQ is not required for rational thinking. One needs to learn just a few cognitive skills to be rational, as well as to unlearn whatever irrational “mindware” (such as certain biases, for example) he or she might already have “installed”.
Interestingly, rational thinking skills are not measured on standard IQ tests. The implications of this are massive. Here’s a great book, for those of you who’d like to learn more. http://www.amazon.com/What-Intelligence-Tests-Miss-Psychology/dp/030012385X
