some thoughts
as i grow older, i begin to realise there's no such thing as common sense. common sense is premised on the fact that there is something fundamentally common to every human being. but given the diversity of climate, environment, culture, family background and personal experiences, how can anyone claim any commonality in that? perhaps the only time we can claim someone lacks common sense is when that person comes from substantially the same background as you do, and even then, the term "common sense" is applicable only between the two of you, and not with regards to the rest of society.on a related note, i've also been pondering the link between perfection and human rationality. you see, in economics theory, the basis which we come up with graphs and formulas is the assumption that in an ideal (i.e. perfect) world, human beings make rational choices with their money. suffice to say, such a world does not exist because human beings are never rational all the time, and do make decisions based on emotions. thus, economics seem to suggest that only rationality equates to perfection, anything else falls short. my question therefore is, is the reason why "all human beings are imperfect" solely because we are at times irrational? can we not say that it is because we are irrational that we are perfectly human, and conversely if we were rational all the time, we would be imperfect humans? would it not then mean that computers and robots are more perfect than us because they function void of emotions? which then begs the question of how imperfect human beings can create beings more perfect than themselves. this is illogical (and by that sentence, i'm betraying my own theory).
human beings are strange creatures. i shall never cease to be amazed.
posted by solitude @ 3:21 PM
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