Rationality Ain't Sexy

[FBM]

Not sexy? If you think rationality ain't sexy, you ain't been lookin':

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexyscient ... 371542826/

NASA rocket scientist and former Houston Rockets girl.

3253860551_275d691343.jpg (45.25 KiB) Viewed 1704 times

Talmesha, Washington Redskins Cheerleader, former
Baltimore Ravens Cheerleader
http://www.redskins.com/gen/cheerleaders/Talmesha.jsp
BS in Math, BS in Chemical Engineering. Currently a
PHD candidate at Johns Hopkins working on Breast
Cancer Research.

3267318863_05b1695af1.jpg (13.7 KiB) Viewed 1704 times

Follow the linky to see more examples that violate the premise that rationality ain't sexy.

[mm_ll]

As somebody who is interested in such things as religion, history, philosophy, spirituality, the nature of consciousness and quite a few other things, I am enthusiastically interested in how current ideas are doing in the context of the greater society and the impact they might have on the future of our species.

Thus exposing the limp tautology at the core of this thread: "Big ideas are big." "People care about what people care about." Generating tautologies like these is not a practice enjoyed by those who think rationality is sexy.

Surendra, it seems to me you want to have a rational discussion about the value of rational thinking... while the OP seems to express concerns about putting rationality on top of irrationality.
So are we willing to have a strictly rational discussion? before that, LaMond, do you think irrationality IS sexy? (I'm assuming sexy = better).
mm

[Surendra Darathy]

Surendra, it seems to me you want to have a rational discussion about the value of rational thinking... while the OP seems to express concerns about putting rationality on top of irrationality.
So are we willing to have a strictly rational discussion? before that, LaMond, do you think irrationality IS sexy? (I'm assuming sexy = better).

Are you lost, Pilgrim? Searching for answers amid a welter of competing claims in this confusing modern world?

Jeebus has a plan for you! Make up your own answers! In the end, nothing matters anyway, so why not gussy yourself up in the trappings of deep knowledge? Then, when you meet someone who does know something, you can pretend to know something yourself. As long as the betting never ends, no one ever has to see your cards or call your bluff.

No, mm, I don't insist on having a rational conversation about rational things. I just want the conversation to be about something. Even the rationalist/atheist forum has to let its hair down once in awhile.

Those are some wicked icons of rationality. Cheerleaders!

Here's to the Sun God! He sure is a Fun God! Ra! Ra! Ra!

[LaMont Cranston]

FBM, There is a difference between individual rational thinkers being sexy and rationality being sexy. Individuals who are rational thinkers can be very sexy, and you supplied the evidence for that. (Thank you!) Whether or not rationality itself is sexy is another matter entirely, and, yes, sexy is a matter of individual taste.

Perhaps we might consider some of the components for what makes something sexy. For starters, I'd say that sexy has appeal, at least for certain people. Sexy attracts people in the direction of the people or the ideas who emanate the sexiness. Sexy is hot. Sexy has a power to it.

What's also true is that when it comes to people and ideas, all things are not created with equal sexiness. Some things are more or less sexy than others. For instance, Marilyn Monroe was and is still regarded as somebody with a high sexiness quotient. Queen Elizabeth is somebody with a low sexiness quotient. Please understand, this is not saying anything else about the worth of these people as human beings, the contributions they might have made to the world or the way they live or have lived their lives.

What I'm saying is that rationality, in and of itself, is not particularly sexy. For those who place value on rationality...and I do...I think it's perfectly rational to consider what might make rational thinking have a greater appeal to more people. That's one of the things that this thread is about.

[LaMont Cranston]

mm, I have no idea whether Surendra actually wants to discuss rationality, irrationality or anything else. However, I am willing to read his posts and see if there is anything to them.

I don't think that rationality or irrationality are necessarily sexy in and of themselves. But we, as perceivers, both as individuals and functioning in groups, assign a certain sexiness quotient to other people, objects, ideas, etc. that exist in our lives.

Rather than going with sexy = better, I'd rather go with sexy = more appealing. Of course, this depends on what we hope to achieve, but most of us hope to achieve something (i.e. happiness, justice, truth, love, the furthering of a cause, etc.). If, as self-proclaimed rational thinkers, we can identify some of those things we hope to attain, I think it's totally reasonable to apply the principles of rational thinking to how we might attain those goals. From what I can tell, some people think this is perfectly reasonable thing to consider, and some people don't. So it goes...

[LaMont Cranston]

Surendra, To the extent that big ideas have a certain appeal, they have a certain sexiness to them. Naziism had a very large appeal to many Germans. That doesn't mean it was a good idea, and the history that was played out demonstrated it didn't work out very well for the Germans or the many people who suffered at their hands.

Yes, making history can be quite sexy. I'd say that what Gandhi did was very sexy, and it most certainly had great appeal for much of the world. Sarcasm, on the other hand, can be sexy, but it gets old in a hurry. A little sarcasm put into the recipe with other things, including love, joy, gratitude, humor, etc. can add a certain kick to what's already available. A steady dose of sarcasm without the other elements has a way of communicating that the purveyor of the sarcasm lives in a state of negativity and unhappiness. That's not very sexy.

[Surendra Darathy]

Yes, making history can be quite sexy. I'd say that what Gandhi did was very sexy, and it most certainly had great appeal for much of the world.

We've sort of lost the thread of what "sexy" was supposed to refer to in your argument.

By all means, fingerpaint on the walls to express yourself, using your own shit, if necessary, to add fragrance to the panoply of color, form, texture, and light so as best to get your message across. Superimpose an audio recording of the sounds of your farting to make it a fully-multimedia presentation.

Either that, or state your message plainly, using simple prose.

"Sexy" may be used with a definition, or it may be used in a marketing sense, by the odd behaviorist, in order to evoke a response in the audience to a stimulus carefully engineered to evoke that response. To deny that such an approach uses scientific or rational principles is absurd.

The lurking question is in the nature of stating one's objective. If it is only self-expression, paint away, me lads!

[LaMont Cranston]

Surendra, I must say that your posts do come with a certain amount of colorful, entertainment value. You may have "sort of lost the thread of what "sexy" was supposed to refer to," but I haven't. I guess that might be one of the unexpected consequences that come with threads on forums such as this one.

Or, it may be that I am one of those "odd behaviorists" you mentioned. As absurd as you might find it, nobody is in denial about whether or not such an approach uses scientific and rational principles. It does.

[FBM]

FBM, There is a difference between individual rational thinkers being sexy and rationality being sexy. Individuals who are rational thinkers can be very sexy, and you supplied the evidence for that. (Thank you!) Whether or not rationality itself is sexy is another matter entirely, and, yes, sexy is a matter of individual taste.

Perhaps we might consider some of the components for what makes something sexy. For starters, I'd say that sexy has appeal, at least for certain people. Sexy attracts people in the direction of the people or the ideas who emanate the sexiness. Sexy is hot. Sexy has a power to it.

What's also true is that when it comes to people and ideas, all things are not created with equal sexiness. Some things are more or less sexy than others. For instance, Marilyn Monroe was and is still regarded as somebody with a high sexiness quotient. Queen Elizabeth is somebody with a low sexiness quotient. Please understand, this is not saying anything else about the worth of these people as human beings, the contributions they might have made to the world or the way they live or have lived their lives.

What I'm saying is that rationality, in and of itself, is not particularly sexy. For those who place value on rationality...and I do...I think it's perfectly rational to consider what might make rational thinking have a greater appeal to more people. That's one of the things that this thread is about.

Well duh. Thank you for that riveting lecture, "Professor". I'll bet you're a real hoot at parties. Or is going to parties not part of your...lifestyle?

[LaMont Cranston]

FBM, Yes, I'm a real laugh riot at parties. There's this thing I do after I've had a couple pitchers of margaritas where I put a lampshade on my head and dance around, "Doing the Watusi like Juicy Lucy." Or, maybe you'd have a better time joining our good friend, Surendra, painting wall with your own feces, recording the sounds of your own flatulence and calling it artsy-fartsy.

[kiki5711]

FBM, Yes, I'm a real laugh riot at parties. There's this thing I do after I've had a couple pitchers of margaritas where I put a lampshade on my head and dance around, "Doing the Watusi like Juicy Lucy." Or, maybe you'd have a better time joining our good friend, Surendra, painting wall with your own feces, recording the sounds of your own flatulence and calling it artsy-fartsy.

good one!!!

[FBM]

FBM, Yes, I'm a real laugh riot at parties. There's this thing I do after I've had a couple pitchers of margaritas where I put a lampshade on my head and dance around, "Doing the Watusi like Juicy Lucy." Or, maybe you'd have a better time joining our good friend, Surendra, painting wall with your own feces, recording the sounds of your own flatulence and calling it artsy-fartsy.

Thanks all the same, but I think I'll just stay over here in Korea and stab myself in the eyes with chopsticks.

[kiki5711]

Not sexy? If you think rationality ain't sexy, you ain't been lookin':

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexyscient ... 371542826/

NASA rocket scientist and former Houston Rockets girl.

3253860551_275d691343.jpg

Talmesha, Washington Redskins Cheerleader, former
Baltimore Ravens Cheerleader
http://www.redskins.com/gen/cheerleaders/Talmesha.jsp
BS in Math, BS in Chemical Engineering. Currently a
PHD candidate at Johns Hopkins working on Breast
Cancer Research.

3267318863_05b1695af1.jpg

Follow the linky to see more examples that violate the premise that rationality ain't sexy.

It's not rationality that's sexy about those women, it's their bodies.

I can be rational and irrational in the same day depending what is happening and how I perceive the situation.

[FBM]

*sigh* It wasn't even meant to be taken seriously, but let's have a run at it, anyway: I find their intelligence makes them at least doubly attractive to me. If I see a woman with a great bod who turns out to be full of superstitious, gullible crap, I can't find anything whatsoever attractive about her.
















OK, I'm lying about that. I admit that I've played 'hide the salami' with quite a few hotties who were also woo-meisters. Sorry. I concede the point. Sorta.

[JimC]

I dislike the modern tendency to conflate the term "sexy" with the extended term "appealing to mindless, immediate gratification, good for the advertising business and generally celebrity-worthy"

That is all.