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A comment on People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study. Parent comment

Re:People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to ... by minblaster on Monday December 23, 2019 @11:18AM (#21864627)
We like to think of rationality as objectively true, but it’s not. Rationality is based on axioms that “feel right” and even the idea of being rational “feels good”.

Is it rational to believe the parallel postulate? In unchanging laws of physics? In using logic with creatures who tend not to share your axioms?

It comes down to a feeling. From a rational point of view, if rationality were always helpful it would be highly selected for, yet it is not.

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Re:People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to ... by wozniacki on Monday December 23, 2019 @12:19PM (#21865138)
Is it rational to believe the likelihood of violent physical harm directed at you if you use a transit station in a sketchy neighborhood as opposed to one in a non-sketchy one?

Does it "feel right" to use the sketchy one, despite everything you know about sketchiness of neighborhoods and crime in general?

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Re:People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to ... by minblaster on Tuesday December 24, 2019 @10:42AM (#21872709)
Is sketchiness determined by an instantaneous feeling or a well-deliberated rational thought?
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