[lit-ideas] Re: When you're hot you're hot, when you're not ...

  • From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:24:39 -0400

Phil: the claim of "the empirical refutation of so-called 'rational decisions'" is confused. ...Rather, it seems to me, that rationality comes into play when we realize that our desires rarely line up with each other and that often they produce consequences we don't desire. The trick, then, is to figure out which desires we desire the most and how to manage our other desires so that we get what we want most.
One example given is of brain-injured subjects with damaged emotional centers. When asked to set an appointment with the researcher, and told to select the day that suited them best, they wavered for over 45 minutes, listing pros and cons for each day, including possible weather conditions. They endlessly proposed "rational" scenarios that would fulfill their desires. Finally, the researcher had to stop them. The author suggests that at least part of the "trick" Phil is proposing is encoded in dopamine neurotransmitters that have been conditioned by our emotional experiences. This tacit "good feeling about this/bad feeling bout this" serves as a shortcut for rationality, allows quarterbacks to make instant decisions, diners to pick from a menu, etc. What is refuted is that decisions are made purely on rational grounds; if that were so, every decision would be paralyzing, Oblomov meets Woody Allen. 
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