Political Crossfire Forums

Can all problems being experienced by the human race be resolved ultimately through the application of rationalism? Does adherence to the principles of rationalism always lead to the most utilitarian result?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism

we went down this road in the late 19th century. it gave birth to post-modernism.

All problems? No. Humans are not strictly rational. The best solutions tend to recognize that, and are meant to withstand the rubber hitting the road.

rationalism is the idea that reason is how new knowledge is acquired, contrast that with empiricism which is the idea that experience is how new knowledge is acquired and skepticism which is the idea that new knowledge is acquired through doubt and thorough testing

It seems to me that good decision-making would require all three approaches in conjunction with one another. Reason, experience, improvisation/testing are all prerequisites for solving problems, individually or on a collective level.

If that makes sense.

*shrug*

intuition and deduction fall under the rubric of rationalism, so....

I don't think it can be said that quantum physics defy understanding via application of reason so much as much as it can be said we just don't understand much yet. The issue is more of one of perspective than lack of innate capability.

What the information we do have regarding quantum mechanics does tell us is that the relationship between psyche and matter is much more complex than previously suspected. furthermore there's a relationship between information and entropy that we don't fully understand yet. Consciousness is a process by which informational associations are retrieved and processed, it may be that our perception of time and space is an artifact of this effect.

so perhaps a better theory of information is needed.