Dysrationalia
Dysrationalia is defined as the inability to think and behave rationally despite adequate intelligence.[1] It is a concept in educational psychology and is not a clinical disorder such as a thought disorder. Dysrationalia can be a resource to help explain why smart people fall for Ponzi schemes and other fraudulent encounters.
History
The concept of dysrationalia was first proposed by psychologist Keith Stanovich in the early 1990s. Stanovich originally classified dysrationalia as a learning disability and characterized it as a difficulty in belief formation, in assessing belief consistency, or in the determination of action to achieve one's goals.[2] However, special education researcher Kenneth Kavale noted that dysrationalia may be more aptly categorized as a thinking disorder, rather than a learning disability, because it does not have a direct impact upon academic performance.[3]
Psychologist Robert Sternberg argued that the construct of dysrationalia needed to be better conceptualized since it lacked a theoretical framework (explaining why people are dysrational and how they become this way) and operationalization (how dysrationalia could be measured).[4][5] Sternberg also noted that the concept had the potential for misuse, as one may label another as dysrational simply because he or she does not agree with the other person's view: "I am afraid that Stanovich has fallen into a trap—that of labeling people as 'dysrational' who have beliefs that he does not accept. And therein lies frightening potential for misuse."[4]: 23
Stanovich then replied to both Kavale
In 2002 Sternberg edited a book, Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid, in which the dysrationalia concept was extensively discussed.[8] In his 2009 book What Intelligence Tests Miss, Stanovich provided the detailed conceptualization that Sternberg called for in his earlier critique.[9] In that book, Stanovich showed that variation in rational thinking skills is surprisingly independent of intelligence. One implication of this finding is that dysrationalia should not be rare.
Mindware
Stanovich proposed two concepts related to dysrationalia: mindware gap and contaminated mindware.[10]
A mindware gap results from gaps in education and experience. This idea focuses on the lack or limitations within a person's knowledge in logic, probability theory, or scientific method when it comes to belief orientation or decision-making. Due to these gaps, intelligent people can make seemingly irrational decisions.
Contaminated mindware focuses on how intelligent people believe irrational
Examples
One example that Stanovich related to dysrationalia centers on two former Illinois schoolteachers who pulled their children from the local public school in the area because discussions of the
A survey was given to Canadian Mensa club members on the topic of paranormal belief.
There are many examples of people who are famous because of their intelligence, but often display irrational behavior. Two examples cited by Stanovich were Martin Heidegger and William Crookes. Heidegger, a renowned philosopher, was also a Nazi apologist and "used the most specious of arguments to justify his beliefs".[1]: 503 Crookes, a famous scientist who discovered the element thallium and was a Fellow of the Royal Society, "was repeatedly duped by spiritualist 'mediums' but never gave up his belief in spiritualism".[1]: 503 Science journalist David Robson cited the example of Kary Mullis, an American biochemist and 1993 Nobel Prize winner who was also an astrology supporter and a climate change and HIV/AIDS denier.[11]
See also
- Argumentation theory – Academic field of logic and rhetoric
- Bounded rationality – Making of satisfactory, not optimal, decisions
- Cognitive development – Field of study in neuroscience and psychology
- Cognitive miser – Psychological tendency of people to think and solve problems in simple ways
- Concept inventory – Knowledge assessment tool
- Double-loop learning
- Dyscalculia – Difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic
- Dyslexia – Specific learning disability characterized by troubles with reading
- Dysthymia – Mental disorder characterized by chronic depression
- Educational assessment – Educational evaluation method
- Great Rationality Debate – Question of whether humans are rational or not
- Ignorance – Lack of knowledge and understanding
- In Over Our Heads– Book on psychological development by Robert Kegan
- Illogicality– Fundamental concepts in philosophy
- Instructional scaffolding – Support given to a student by an instructor throughout the learning process
- Irrationality – Thinking, talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality
- Neurathian bootstrap– Philosophical analogy about knowledge
- Predictably Irrational – 2008 book by Dan Ariely
- Reflective equilibrium – State of balance among a set of beliefs, arrived at by considering general principles
- Stupidity – Lack of intelligence
Notes
Further reading
- Croskerry, Pat (2015). "Clinical decision making". In Barach, Paul R.; Jacobs, Jeffery P.; Lipshultz, Steven E.; Laussen, Peter C. (eds.). Pediatric and congenital cardiac care: quality improvement and patient safety. Vol. 2. London; New York: OCLC 900507959.
- Facione, Peter A.; Gittens, Carol Ann (2016) [2011]. Think critically (3rd ed.). Boston: OCLC 893099404.
- Forsythe, Chris; Liao, Huafei; Trumbo, Michael; Cardona-Rivera, Rogelio E. (2015). Cognitive neuroscience of human systems: work and everyday life. Advances in human factors and ergonomics series. Boca Raton, FL: OCLC 796750072.
- OCLC 773023517.
- OCLC 706020998.
- Moshman, David (2011) [1999]. Adolescent rationality and development: cognition, morality, and identity (3rd ed.). New York: OCLC 644680695.
- Moshman, David (October 2000). "Diversity in reasoning and rationality: metacognitive and developmental considerations". S2CID 22454319.
- Moshman, David (2015). Epistemic cognition and development: the psychology of justification and truth. New York: OCLC 883648773.
- OCLC 889164994.
- Over, David (February 2010). "Dysrationalia: intelligence without rationality". S2CID 54287345.
- Preiss, David; OCLC 316035759.
- Robson, David G. (2019). The intelligence trap: why smart people make dumb mistakes. New York: OCLC 1054001437.
- OCLC 318716093.
- .
- OCLC 648932780.
- OCLC 216936066.
- S2CID 147314725.
- OCLC 946254542.
- .
External links
- Stanovich, Keith E. "Publications on reasoning and rationality". keithstanovich.com. Retrieved 16 October 2016.