Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctordick
In essence, there are two very different ways of "understanding the universe". There is that emotional feeling that something makes sense; . . . Then again there is a very different kind of understanding which allows you to logically defend some set of analytical expectations in intimate detail; even in cases where no emotional feeling exists to defend the validity of those expectations (here I am talking about all those totally counter intuitive deductions so common in analytical work).
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I will use the adjective "logical" to classify a specific kind of thought commonly believed, particularly by intellectuals, to be the only possible variety of rational thought (I suspect they believe rational and logical are merely different words for the same phenomena). In my head, the term "rational thought" implies the idea being expressed makes sense: i.e., it does not generate emotional doubts as to its validity. Under that view, the adjective rational does not always imply "logical". The view also makes it apparent that "rational statements" (though they seem to make sense) are not necessarily valid, a point anyone familiar with the development of science should be aware. That is, very bright people have made errors in their beliefs from time to time; but that does not mean that those beliefs were irrational.
If one holds that only logical thoughts are rational, then scientific progress becomes impossible since any deductions must be based on things presumed to be valid without reason (those axioms one starts with) and that is certainly irrational.
and the most common abuse of that power is to use it to hide stupidity
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Logic and rationality are different IMO. Logic is a process of structural derivation of a conclusion which then ought to be consistent with evidence. Rationality is a characteristic of the conclusion; in essence, we characterize conclusions as rational or irrational based on whether such conclusions are consistent with evidence.
Logic is a path which must be constructed to get from evidence to conclusion. Rationality is the quality of the conclusion.
