Irrationality

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For irrationality as it relates to numbers, see irrational number.

Irrationality is talking or acting without regard of rationality. Usually pejorative, the term is used to describe thinking and actions which are, or appear to be, less useful or logical than the rational alternatives. These actions tend to be regarded as emotion-driven. There is a clear tendency to view our own thoughts, words, and actions as rational and to see those who disagree as irrational.

Types of behavior which are often described as irrational include:

fads and fashions
crowd behavior
offense or anger at a situation that has not yet occurred
unrealistic expectations
falling victim to confidence tricks
belief in the supernatural without evidence
stock-market bubbles
irrationality caused by mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, and paranoia.

These more contemporary 'normative' conceptions of what constitutes a manifestation of irrationality prove difficult to empirically demonstrate because it is not clear by whose standards we are to judge rational or irrational behaviour.

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1 Why does irrational behavior occur?
2 Irrationality and literature
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Why does irrational behavior occur?

The study of irrational behavior is of interest in fields such as psychology, cognitive science, economics, game theory, and evolutionary psychology, as well as of practical interest to the practitioners of advertising and propaganda.

Theories of irrational behavior include:

people's actual interests differ from what they believe to be their interests
mechanisms that have evolved to give optimal behavior in normal conditions lead to irrational behavior in abnormal conditions
people fail to realize the irrationality of their actions and believe they are acting perfectly rational, possibly due to flaws in their reasoning
under the assumption that emotion is inherently opposed to rationality, if people's interests are controlled by emotional mechanisms, then "rationality" as such is a meaningless concept
apparently irrational decisions are actually optimal, but made unconsciously on the basis of "hidden" interests that are not known to the conscious mind
Some people find themselves in this condition by living "double" lives. They try to put on one "mask" for one group of people and another for a different group of people. Many will become confused as to which they really are or which they wish to become.

Factors which affect rational behavior include:

stress, which in turn may be emotional or physical
the introduction of a new or unique situation

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[edit] Irrationality and literature

The Human irrational behaviour has always been a notable target to satrical writers and philosophers.

In his novel The Journey of The Fool, Fady Bahig puts the following quote on the tongue of one of the characters:

"Those are the human beings! You die of laughter if a poor man slips on the street, but you yell and weep if a van runs over him. You yawn and sleep in opera houses but you’d die to sneak into the backstage, because you know that only there the erotic bodies of the actresses are denuded!"