Irrationality is talking or acting without regard of rationality. Usually pejorative, the term is used to describe thinking and actions which are, or appear to be, less useful or logical than the rational alternatives. There is a clear tendency to view our own thoughts, words, and actions as rational and to see those who disagree as irrational. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A self-serving bias occurs when people are more likely to claim responsibility for successes than failures. ...

Types of behavior which are often described as irrational include:

• fads and fashions
• crowd behavior
• offense or anger at a situation that has not yet occurred
• unrealistic expectations
• falling victim to confidence tricks
• belief in the supernatural without evidence
• stock-market bubbles
• irrationality in the form of a mental illness, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depressive disorder, and paranoia.

These more contemporary 'normative' conceptions of what constitutes a manifestation of irrationality prove difficult to empirically demonstrate because it is not clear by whose standards we are to judge rational or irrational behaviour. For other uses, see FAD (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Fashion (disambiguation). ... Crowd psychology is a branch of social psychology. ... Grifter redirects here. ... Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A stock market bubble is a type of economic bubble taking place in stock markets when price of stocks rise and become overvalued by any measure of stock valuation. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ... It is common to feel sad, discouraged , or down once in a while, and anyone in this state might say they are suffering from depression. ... For other senses of this word, see paranoia (disambiguation). ...

Celestial divination: Roman augurs were priests who used omens to predict the future. Many Roman writers explain history in terms of these auguries, but modern historians consider belief in auguries to be irrational.

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1067, 175 KB) Reflected Sunset File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tāwhirimātea Irrationality Wikipedia:Australian Wikipedians notice board/Archive 21 User:Lilliputian/hedonistic philosophy/I... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1600x1067, 175 KB) Reflected Sunset File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Tāwhirimātea Irrationality Wikipedia:Australian Wikipedians notice board/Archive 21 User:Lilliputian/hedonistic philosophy/I... The Augur was a priest or official in ancient Rome. ... Examples of omens from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493): natural phenomena and strange births. ...

Why does irrational behavior occur?

The study of irrational behavior is of interest in fields such as psychology, cognitive science, economics, game theory, and evolutionary psychology, as well as of practical interest to the practitioners of advertising and propaganda. Psychology (from Greek: ψυχή, psukhē, spirit, soul; λόγος, logos, knowledge) is both an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ... Game theory is often described as a branch of applied mathematics and economics that studies situations where multiple players make decisions in an attempt to maximize their returns. ... Evolutionary psychology (abbreviated EP) is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, i. ... “Advert” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ...

Theories of irrational behavior include:

• people's actual interests differ from what they believe to be their interests.
• mechanisms that have evolved to give optimal behavior in normal conditions lead to irrational behavior in abnormal conditions.
• In situations outside of one's ordinary circumstances, one may experience intense levels of fear, or may regress to a Fight or flight mentality.
• people fail to realize the irrationality of their actions and believe they are acting perfectly rational, possibly due to flaws in their reasoning.
• apparently irrational decisions are actually optimal, but made unconsciously on the basis of "hidden" interests that are not known to the conscious mind
• an inability to comprehend the social consequences of one's own actions, possibly due in part to a lack of empathy.
• Some people find themselves in this condition by living "double" lives. They try to put on one "mask" for one group of people and another for a different group of people. Many will become confused as to which they really are or which they wish to become.

Factors which affect rational behavior include: In finance, interest has three general definitions. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Panic is the primal urge to run and hide in the face of imminent danger. ... This article or section should include material from Fight-or-flight The flight or fight response, also called the acute stress response, was first described by Walter Cannon in the 1920s as a theory that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system. ... At a simple and informal level, the notion of an unconscious mind (or subconscious) would seem a usefully straightforward way of accounting for aspects of the mind of which we are not directly conscious or aware. ... For other uses, see Mind (disambiguation). ...

• stress, which in turn may be emotional or physical
• the introduction of a new or unique situation

In medical terms, stress is the disruption of homeostasis through physical or psychological stimuli. ...

Irrationalist

Irrationalist is a wide term. It may be applied to mean one without rationality, for their beliefs or ideas. Or, more precisely, it may mean someone who rejects some aspect of rationalism, variously defined. For example religious faith may be seen as, in part, a rejection of complete rationalism about the world; this would be contested by some religious thinkers, in that the rational is a debatable term. On the other hand, it might be considered irrationalist to buy a lottery ticket, on the basis that the expected value is negative. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ... This article discusses faith in a religious context. ... A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ... In probability theory the expected value (or mathematical expectation) of a random variable is the sum of the probability of each possible outcome of the experiment multiplied by its payoff (value). Thus, it represents the average amount one expects as the outcome of the random trial when identical odds are...

Irrational thought was seen in Europe as part of the reaction against Continental rationalism. For example Hamann is sometimes classified as an irrationalist. A separate article deals with a different philosophical position called rationalism. ... Johann Georg Hamann (1730 - 1788) was a German pietist protestant, thinker, and friend of the philosopher Immanuel Kant. ...

Irrationality and literature

Irrational behaviour has always been a notable target to satirical writers and philosophers.

See also

Look up irrationality in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Irrationalism and Aestheticism
• Cognitive Bias
• Logical Fallacy
• behavioral economics
• fan death
• Dysrationalia
• God

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 150 languages. ... The philosophical movements of irrationalism and aestheticism were a cultual reaction against positivism that took place during the early twentieth century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Fallacy. ... Nobel Prize in Economics winner Daniel Kahneman, was an important figure in the development of behavioral finance and economics and continues to write extensively in the field. ... Many people in South Korea believe that, when operated in closed rooms, electric fans do not bring heat relief but sudden death, suffocating victims by stealing their oxygen. ... Dysrationalia is defined as the inability to think and behave rationally despite adequate intelligence[1]. The concept of dysrationalia was first proposed by psychologist Keith Stanovich in the early 1990s. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ...

References

• Stuart Sutherland, N. S. Sutherland. Irrationality: Why We Don't Think Straight, reissued 2007 by Pinter & Martin ISBN 978-1-905177-07-3
• Transwiki:Irrationalist

Stuart Sutherland (1927-1998) was a British psychologist and writer, most famous for his 1976 autobiography Breakdown, detailing his struggles with manic depression. ...

External links

• Craig R. M. McKenzie. Rational models as theories – not standards – of behavior. TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences Vol.7 No.9 September 2003
• REBT-CBT NET- Internet Guide to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy