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Are most people logical? Is being "logical" an illusion?

How much do people really base their decisions off of logic?

I think there are many hidden and subconscious influences. Even people who think they are logical are often under the influence of a bias-- or even influenced by hidden visual triggers. Marketers know this achilles heel and they definitely use it. Politicians, too.

For example, visual triggers can even influence what we hear.

"The McGurk effect is a perceptual phenomenon that demonstrates an interaction between hearing and vision in speech perception. The illusion occurs when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound."

Thoughts?

silvereyes 8 Mar 6
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21 comments

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0

Yes people are logical, but logic takes work, and we often take illogical shortcuts without noticing.

Lauxa Level 5 Mar 19, 2018
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I actually think most people are logical within their assumptions. The problem is most people don’t even know what their assumptions are, much less bother to re-examine them once in a while.

Myah Level 6 Mar 9, 2018
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Supertramps biggest hit 1979 'The Logical Song'

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I see math and logic as being an equivillency so I don't think anyone is natively logical. Working out how special relativity works really shows this, at least to me. Since the "common logic" of our daily lives does not in any way work out to be what the reality of the world is around us.

I think people are "understandable" but not logical. This is sort of one of those "literally" vs "figuratively" word plays that is all to common in our discourse.

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I find very very few people to be logical.

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Not many. Which makes argument and debate seem pointless because people don't want to talk to change their mind, they want to talk to hear themselves heard. Rarely do cases happen where one side says oh yeah they're right never mind. It happens but rarely

0

It's really hard to work past your own biases. And we all have them. I try to stay aware, and I try to read trusted sources so I can keep from falling into fallacies. I don't always succeed, but I keep trying.

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Most people are dumb as fucking bricks... I don't think they even know what logic is or- if they are evangelical - they call it THEEEEEE workin's of the DEEVIL!! ( said in Granny Clampett voice for effect)

2

Sometimes I think most of my life, most of the time, has been based on and responding to the illusory. I think I'm a relatively logical / rational person, and emotionally stable. But only recently has it come to pass that more of my life has been lived not believing in an invisible all-powerful deity, than believing it. And it's only in recent years that I've let go of my romantic ideals.

Add to that, our tendencies to identify beliefs with self, our tendency to confirmation bias and a thousand other expressions of muddled thinking -- and I'm not sure anyone can take pride in how "rational" they are. In some ways, it's a miracle anyone is in substantial touch with reality.

The only consolation for me is I have been heading in the right direction for quite awhile now. I feel life is less full of unpleasant surprises. That's a sign that my mental model of reality is improving in its correspondence to reality itself.

Yes!

0

Check out my post and comments on the Incompleteness Theorem, and you decide.

I have a math degree, and know what logic is all about. I try to do things rationally, but it seems my emotions still dominate. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

I think it means you're human. 🙂

0

I think decision making has a lot to do with intelligence. Those that are more intelligent usually will make more logic driven decisions. On the flip side, less intelligent individuals make decisions more based on emotion and impulse.

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In the second video, I honestly thought he exaggerated the movement of his lips and teeth to make his vocalization visually deceptive. Realizing that and focusing on it, I still heard, "Faa."

On the subject of logic; I am logical when it matters most, but I can also act impulsively. I can present logical arguments for decisions I wouldn't make and actions I wouldn't take. You may consider that hypocritical, but to me it's justified in the hope of keeping my kids from making the same mistakes I have and /or would.

JimG Level 8 Mar 6, 2018

The scenario of distinction between two things does seem to lend itself to prior experience when the answer has to be either A or B. This example is literally a false dichotomy, although as you say, there was some visual influence injected as well.

2

I have seen this on a show, think it is called brain games. Most people do not want to think about complexity that is why beer and remote control tv is so popular. Give most average Jane/John Doe a complicated task and they will mess it up, like a wet dream in a crowded elevator.

2

Our current political climate is all the proof needed that human beings are completely lacking logic or reasoning. Sometimes, some people are occasionally capable of rational thought if they are situationally aware of what is around them.

Boy, is that the truth! What I find really troubling is that it's impossible to approach any type of political subject because of the amount of anger in the air. It's like this thick fog that prevents any kind of sense from getting through.

3

Most people couldn't construct a logical argument to save their lives in my experience. The human brain isn't wired for logic, it's a pattern recognition device.

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Humans are emotionally driven creatures. Now, I'm not saying that we can't ever think logically. Our "snap" decisions are questionable.

0

I'm not sure that Logic is all it's cracked up to be anyway.

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I think most decisions made by the human animal are based on instinct rather than reason (logic). We have the illusion of free will and therefore the illusion that we are in control of our decisions based on logic (what makes the most sense given the information we have to make any given decision). I do think we have a very limited ability to make decisions based on reason but this is often not employed.

I've always said there are so few things that can be decided objectively, it's a shame during those times that we choose not to.

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Idk? I'll ask Mr. Spock or Supertramp.

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Nice trap

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I kind of seriously doubt it. +7B people in the world - if they were logical they would have bought some cherry flavored condoms by now.

jeffy Level 7 Mar 6, 2018

HAHAHA well done sir, well done!

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