The Irrationality of the Rational

April 13, 2015

Human Behavior, Catholic Social Thought, and Global Development

Economic theory argues on the basis of social norms that individuals are fully rational agents. For this reason, many people fall into the trap that all the activities and decisions human beings make are rational behavior.

However, human psychology and Catholic social thought tell us that both thinking and the way we make decisions differ between individuals, suggesting that humans are actually irrational in their thinking and their own personal preferences. One of these irrationalities is the human mind; some think individually depending on the situation, while in most decisions, humans think socially and collectively.

In today's world, materialism, as a part of human nature, has led selfishness to become a driving part of the economy. This same selfishness is what causes a lot of social damage. This is where Catholic social thought can play a major role in creating a better society.

As Kaushik Basu mentioned in his lecture, selfishness is not a good thing. Thankfully, the human instinct is to be cooperative, which leads to a social balance and a way of acting and thinking according to principles and values.

So what is human rationality? Probably the only rational thing is that our irrationality leads us to act cooperatively and always think of others. Social norms, especially Catholic values of respect, are thus irrationally helping to create a better society through solidarity with our fellow man.

About the Author

Carlos Osorio Torres

Carlos Osorio Torres is a student at the Ibero-American University Puebla (Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla) in Puebla, Mexico, studying Management of Social and Solidarity Economy. He is also a part of the Berkley Center's Catholic Social Teaching and the Global Future of Development project. His academic interests include the effects of climate change on the global economy, as well as the social and institutional factors that contribute to economic development. He does additional work on agriculture and sustainability. Osorio has volunteered with many organizations. Currently he is trying to create a cooperative for orphans and develop community gardens. He has also worked on making fair trade accessible to vulnerable and marginalized people.