What the poop does rational mean anyway?

[Perfection]

 

[Dachs]

"Having to do with bad military food".

 

[oagersnap]

Any number that can be expressed as a/b.

 

[Brighteye]

a. Having the faculty of reasoning; endowed with reason.
b. That uses, or is capable of using, the faculty of reasoning; having sound judgement; (in extended use) sensible, sane, lucid. Also: characterized by reasoning, as opposed to emotion, intuition, etc.
3. a. Based on or derived from reason or reasoning, esp. as opposed to emotion, intuition, instinct, etc.
4. In accordance with reason; reasonable, sensible; not foolish
II. Technical uses.[...]

 

[El_Machinae]

Being aware of cognitive bias, and then working around it.

 

[Integral]

Rational: a decision-making process in which the agent strives to maximise the expected value of his earnings, given that all other agents are also striving to maximize the expected value of their earnings.

--

@El Mac: if you're interested in cognitive biases, you would probably enjoy Overcoming Bias and Less Wrong. /plug

 

[warpus]

This should get you started

 

[GoodGame]

Any number that can be expressed as a/b.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationality Warpus beat me!

I prefer ratios definition myself.

 

[Phlegmak]

"Rational" would be an adjective for Ayn Rand's philosophy.

 

[GenMarshall]

The "holyer than thou, I'm better and smarter than you" possition in terms of religious debates .

 

[LucyDuke]

What it means is not what people here mean when they use it.

 

[cardgame]

What it means is not what people here mean when they use it.

So can someone explain to me its definition as used by CFCOT?

 

[Bill3000]

Rational: a decision-making process in which the agent strives to maximise the expected value of his earnings, given that all other agents are also striving to maximize the expected value of their earnings.

Reality-based definitions, please.

 

[amadeus]

So can someone explain to me its definition as used by CFCOT?

What you want it to mean -- just like "reason", "philosophy", "morals", "ethics", "logic", "freedom", etc., etc.

 

[dutchfire]

Any number that can be expressed as a/b.

With a and b integers, and b =/= 0.
Otherwise, pi would be a rational (a=pi b=1)

 

[kulade]

It's commonly used as something not based on emotion or faith, I suppose.

 

[Abaddon]

look it up in a dictionary

 

[Moss]

So can someone explain to me its definition as used by CFCOT?

I could be wrong in Lucy's intention but she might be on this train of thought:

CFC, I've noticed anyway especially in religious discussions, confuses rational with right based on empirical evidence. What is rational (a sound judgement) does not inherently mean that the judgement will in the end prove to be the most right one. We can make rational assumptions without having complete knowledge. Scientists and philosophers have made rational assumptions about how the Universe works for ages, and some have been correct and some have been incorrect, that doesn't mean they weren't reasonable (rational) assumptions at the time.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Being boring

The "holyer than thou, I'm better and smarter than you" possition in terms of religious debates .

Also this, but not restricted to religious debates, not by a long shot. Of course moderation is the key, being too irational sucks too.

 

[warpus]

Being boring

Also this, but not restricted to religious debates, not by a long shot. Of course moderation is the key, being too irational sucks too.

Wait, are you saying that being too rational can be bad?