Irrationality

Irrationality PDF Author: Justin E. H. Smith
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210519
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Preface -- Preamble: a mathematician's murder -- Introduction -- The self-devouring octopus, or, logic -- "No-brainers", or, reason in nature -- The sleep of reason, or, dreams -- Dreams into things, or, art -- "I believe because it is absurd", or, pseudoscience -- Enlightenment, or, myth Enlightenment into myth -- The human beast, or, the Internet -- Explosions, or, jokes and lies --The impossible symbolism, or, death -- Conclusion.

Irrationality

Irrationality PDF Author: Justin E. H. Smith
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210519
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Preface -- Preamble: a mathematician's murder -- Introduction -- The self-devouring octopus, or, logic -- "No-brainers", or, reason in nature -- The sleep of reason, or, dreams -- Dreams into things, or, art -- "I believe because it is absurd", or, pseudoscience -- Enlightenment, or, myth Enlightenment into myth -- The human beast, or, the Internet -- Explosions, or, jokes and lies --The impossible symbolism, or, death -- Conclusion.

Irrationality

Irrationality PDF Author: Stuart Sutherland
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781780660288
Category : Errors
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
New, 21st anniversary edition, with a new foreword by Ben Goldacre, author of Bad Science and Bad Pharma, and an afterword by James Ball, covering developments in our understanding of irrationality over the last two decades. Why do doctors, army generals, high-ranking government officials and other people in positions of power make bad decisions that cause harm to others? Why do prizes serve no useful function? Why are punishments so ineffective? Why is interviewing such an unsatisfactory method of selection? Irrationality is a challenging and thought-provoking book that draws on statistica.

Irrationality

Irrationality PDF Author: Alfred R. Mele
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195359879
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Although much human action serves as proof that irrational behavior is remarkably common, certain forms of irrationality--most notably, incontinent action and self-deception--pose such difficult theoretical problems that philosophers have rejected them as logically or psychologically impossible. Here, Mele shows that, and how, incontinent action and self-deception are indeed possible. Drawing upon recent experimental work in the psychology of action and inference, he advances naturalized explanations of akratic action and self-deception while resolving the paradoxes around which the philosophical literature revolves. In addition, he defends an account of self-control, argues that "strict" akratic action is an insurmountable obstacle for traditional belief-desire models of action-explanation, and explains how a considerably modified model accommodates action of this sort.

The Upside of Irrationality

The Upside of Irrationality PDF Author: Dr. Dan Ariely
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062008560
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
“Dan Ariely is a genius at understanding human behavior: no economist does a better job of uncovering and explaining the hidden reasons for the weird ways we act.” — James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds Behavioral economist and New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational Dan Ariely returns to offer a much-needed take on the irrational decisions that influence our dating lives, our workplace experiences, and our temptation to cheat in any and all areas. Fans of Freakonomics, Survival of the Sickest, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and The Tipping Point will find many thought-provoking insights in The Upside of Irrationality.

Irrationality

Irrationality PDF Author: Lisa Bortolotti
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 074568727X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
We talk about irrationality when behaviour defies explanation or prediction, when decisions are driven by emotions or instinct rather than by reflection, when reasoning fails to conform to basic principles of logic and probability, and when beliefs lack coherence or empirical support. Depending on the context, agents exhibiting irrational behaviour may be described as foolish, ignorant, unwise or even insane. In this clear and engaging introduction to current debates on irrationality, Lisa Bortolotti presents the many facets of the concept and offers an original account of the importance of judgements of irrationality as value judgements. The book examines the standards against which we measure human behaviour, and reviews the often serious implications of judgements of irrationality for ethics and policy. Bortolotti argues that we should adopt a more critical stance towards accepted standards of rationality in the light of the often surprising outcomes of philosophical inquiry and cognitive science research into decision making. Irrationality is an accessible guide to the concept and will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in the limitations of human cognition and human agency.

Irrationality and Transcendence in Number Theory

Irrationality and Transcendence in Number Theory PDF Author: David Angell
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 100052373X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
Features Uses techniques from widely diverse areas of mathematics, including number theory, calculus, set theory, complex analysis, linear algebra, and the theory of computation. Suitable as a primary textbook for advanced undergraduate courses in number theory, or as supplementary reading for interested postgraduates. Each chapter concludes with an appendix setting out the basic facts needed from each topic, so that the book is accessible to readers without any specific specialist background.

Rationality and Irrationality in Economics

Rationality and Irrationality in Economics PDF Author: Maurice Godelier
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1781689857
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
This book is the result of a research project begun by the author in 1958 with the aim of answering two questions: First, what is the rationality of the economic systems that appear and disappear throughout history-in other words, what is their hidden logic and the underlying necessity for them to exist, or to have existed? Second, what are the conditions for a rational understanding of these systems-in other words, for a fully developed comparative economic science? The field of investigation opened up by these two questions is vast, touching on the foundations of social reality and on how to understand them. The author, being a Marxist, sought the answers, as he writes, 'not in philosophy or by philosophical means, but in and through examining the knowledge accumulated by the sciences.' The stages of his journey from philosophy to economics and then to anthropology are indicated by the divisions of his book. Godelier rejects, at the outset, any attempt to tackle the question of rationality or irrationality of economic science and of economic realities from the angle of an a priori idea, a speculative definition of what is rational. Such an approach can yield only, he feels, an ideological result. Rather, he treats the appearance and disappearance of social and economic systems in history as being governed by a necessity 'wholly internal to the concrete structures of social life.

Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational PDF Author: Dan Ariely
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006135323X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Intelligent, lively, humorous, and thoroughly engaging, "The Predictably Irrational" explains why people often make bad decisions and what can be done about it.

Weakness of Will and Practical Irrationality

Weakness of Will and Practical Irrationality PDF Author: Sarah Stroud
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191531456
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Among the many practical failures that threaten us, weakness of will or akrasia is often considered to be a paradigm of irrationality. The eleven new essays in this collection, written by an excellent international team of philosophers, some well-established, some younger scholars, give a rich overview of the current debate over weakness of will and practical irrationality more generally. Issues covered include classical questions such as the distinction between weakness and compulsion, the connection between evaluative judgement and motivation, the role of emotions in akrasia, rational agency, and the existence of the will. The also include new topics, such as group akrasia, strength of will, the nature of correct choice, the structure of decision theory, the temporality of prudential reasons, and emotional rationality. Because these questions cut across philosophy of mind and ethics, the collection will be essential reading for scholars, postgraduates, and upper-level undergraduates in both these fields.

The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science

The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science PDF Author: Michael Strevens
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
ISBN: 1631491385
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
A paradigm-shifting, widely acclaimed work for our generation, The Knowledge Machine revolutionizes our understanding of the origins and structure of science. Michael Strevens’s “provocative and fascinating” (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times) investigation of science asks two fundamental questions: Why is science so powerful? And why did it take so long for the human race to start using science to learn the secrets of nature? The Knowledge Machine’s radical answer is that science, by nature, calls on its practitioners to do the irrational. By willfully ignoring religion, theoretical beauty, and especially philosophy, scientists embrace an unnaturally narrow method of inquiry, channeling unprecedented energy into observation and experimentation. Rich with vivid historical examples and widely acclaimed, Knowledge Machine overturns many of our most basic assumptions about scientific discovery.