The Perfect Rationality of Irrationality

A relatively new book by MIT professor Dan Ariely has caught my fancy. It is another of those "Freakanomics" type economics exposes where everything about why people decide to do what they do is thoroughly explained in an easy-to-read way. This particular treatment is called Predictably Irrational, and with it Ariely tries to share how so many things we do are irrational and by gosh why on earth would we do such irrational things?

The answer is that we don't.

Nothing we do is irrational. Not a single thing. In fact Ariely, when trying to say "Here's an irrational thing look how irrational!" actually shows how perfectly and, yes, predictably rational every single thing any given individual does.

The real question is this: Is any particular decision any given individual makes righteous?

The reason no one ever asks that question is because that would require some kind of moral judgment, and that, as we all know, is absolutely prohibited. That would mean one would be guilty of the crime of intolerance, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and all the rest of it.

Funny thing, though. That prohibition. Isn't that itself a form of intolerance bigotry narrow-mindedness? It is said "Oh my, don't say something is morally wrong! That would mean you're saying your moral judgment is above ours, and that would mean you're arrogant and intolerant and mean-spirited! And certainly that is against the law!"

Ahem, what law? What moral judgment is in place to proscribe that behavior?

The fact is Ariely and all World pontificators only know the World way to assess things, and that is to gather some nebulous grasp of what most people think is pretty good and base their understanding on that. It is that classic Greek worship of the god of reason. Reason in and of itself is a terrific thing, but the key question here is one asked through the ages.

What precisely is reasonable? Furthermore, how do you know that?

To cut right to the chase, the answer is what God says. And how do you know what God says? It says it right there in His book. Sure millions read it and blab about it and many of those are World operatives who say "This is what it really means" with the sworn intent to keep you from actually seeing what God says. But all that doesn't take away from the fact that God pretty much laid out not only what is reasonable but more importantly

What is righteous.

Here's how what God actually says--irrespective of what World inhabitants and their masters says He says--explains the whole issue of rational-irrational, and it is in the way Ariely addresses the problem of procrastination.

Ariely did experiments with his students about due dates for assignments to see who did the best with their work in light of the fact that schoolwork is generally put off until the last minute. (Never mind that his "study" really had no proper controls so he could not effectively rule out other factors.)

He made a bunch of conclusions about procrastination after it was all said and done, speculations about the nature of self-control and the meaning of rewards and the concept of delayed gratification and the impact of socially or politically imposed deadlines and so on.

Nothing about why we actually procrastinate to begin with.

Of course he can't share that.

He only knows the World. He hasn't a clue about the Kingdom.

God knows. And He tells us. And we too can know what those things are. We just have to listen. World inhabitants (including quite a few higher education scholars) refuse to listen--for the reasons (perfectly rational I might add!) mentioned above.

The reason people procrastinate is because they see no relational value in a task given them. In other words, if they cannot see that what they immediately do will ultimately get them vibrant interaction with someone else or a group of someone elses who will express some notice of the given task considered for procrastination, then, voila,

You'll procrastinate.

It's all about relationship, discovery, accomplishment. Everyone has the need to belong, to experience, and to contribute, especially when that contribution is recognized by the people we long to have recognize it. The more we perceive those things won't happen--whether true or not-- the more we'll put it off. Or never do it to begin with.

God lays all this out in His word. More than anything else we want love and want to give love. When that is messed with in whatever way, we very rationally react, and sometimes those reactions are quite, shall we say, unrighteous. The payoff in all of this is that God loves purely, and empowers us fully to love ourselves. Without Him, yes,

Fughedaboudit.

You'll procrastinate everything to death, and live in misery.

But, hey, perfectly rational for one who doesn't know The One Who Loves.

Who is that One? Look here.

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