Rationally speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.

For more information, please visit us at NYCCEceptics.org.

Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense.

I am your host, Massimo Piliucci, and with me, as always, is my co-host, Julia Galev.

So, Julia, what are we talking about today?

Well, Massimo, today is our most important episode ever, because this is the episode in which we justify this

entire endeavor. Today's topic is, why is speaking rationally a worthwhile goal anyway? Some

people argue that irrationality can make us happier, at least in certain situations. And other

people feel that rational is synonymous with cold, soulless, and dispassionate. In other words,

not human. So today we're going to ask, are there downsides to being rational? And if so,

are they necessarily outweighed by the upsides? Good question. Let's start by dispelling

this myth that rationality is necessarily opposed to passion. This was, this actually has a long history.

It goes all the way back at least to Plato and to some extent to Aristotle, who made that

argument that rationality, that human beings are the rational animal and then therefore they

should be characterized by or emphasized their rationality

over other aspects of our nature, including the emotions.

But why would these philosophers think that being rational would make you less emotional?

I just don't get it.

Well, the idea was that if the emotions become too strong, in other words, if they're not controlled, then they'll lead you to do things that you're going to regret, that not in your long-term interest.

And, of course, if somebody has or something has to control the emotions, then who is going to do that?

And the idea was that the faculty of reason being the highest

and the most developed in humans, at least that's what Plato thought, then reason should take

...