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by nunyabuizness 3280 days ago
> Yes the rational choice model is well-established to be false.

Citation? I hear this a lot, and it seems to stem from a misunderstanding of the word "rational" in this context, which I believe is supposed to mean "perceived" - how else would you objectively define rational?

Is it rational for a thirsting person to prefer gatorade to water (it is for them, if that's the choice they want to make)? Do you have more perfect information to justify your opinion on the matter as more "rational"?

1 comments

Rational choice theory holds that actual behavior will be that which maximizes utility (in it's simple form), and expected (in the Bayesian probability sense) utility (in the more complex version addressing uncertainty.)

“Rationality” refers specifically to this mathematical optimization.