Dysrationalia

I read Cipolla last night and, though it was meant to be funny, I found it a depressing reading because it is true. 

The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things by David Robson contains a discussion of the concept of “Dysrationalia“. 

Contrary to the wikipedia entry, this is not a matter of “mindware gap” (lack of relevant education or experience) or “contaminated mindware” (socially inculcated wrong beliefs), but something more akin to Dyslexia or Dyscalculia, a literal inability to think straight; like inability to see in congenital blindness. 

Stanovich has actually developed a test for rationality (Stanovich, Keith E., Who is rational?  Studies in individual differences in reasoning).  This is discussed at length in Robert J. Sternberg, Why smart people can be so stupid (2002).  Kenneth Kavale notes this is not a learning disability, because it has no direct impact on academic performance.

While I have not made a rigorous study of the matter, I have on occasion involved myself in non-adversarial discussions with people — this usually involved friendly discussions around life decisions, such as whether to buy a car or where to establish one’s tax residence — which gave me an occasion to glimpse the chaos in some people’s heads.  This was a really terrifying experience: to realize that there is something fundamentally wrong with the brain.

I have attributed it to two failures:  the inability to prioritize and the inability to pursue a course.

Prioritizing involves distinguishing among arguments for and against some course of action according to their relevance.  Some reasons are good, others are immaterial. Yet, you often see people become swayed or confused by the immaterial.

Pursuing a course of thought is just that:  being able to perform a sustained mental effort in some direction without getting sidetracked or giving up in exasperation at having made no progress.

I do not know whether these are inborn characteristics, i.e. ones hard wired, or whether they could be ameliorated by education.