| It turns out the 'hyper-rationality' concept the author describes as having excessive faith in 'rational truth' has another meaning in game theory in the 'rational actor context', which oddly enough sort of inverts the meaning: > "The assumption of rational behavior is based on the fact that each player seeks the maximum benefit, but in assumption of hyper-rational behavior, each player thinks about profit or loss of other actors in addition to his personal profit or loss and then will choose an action, which is desirable to him. One of the most important advantages of this concept emphasizes the importance of the outcomes of other actors in the game." "The behavioral model and game theory" (2019)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0265-2 Note this can have different effects depending on circumstances - e.g. one person could damage another's outcome by not being truthful with them about their chances of success with a particular strategy, which is comparable to the malicious giver of bad advice (if not as actively harmful). For some people in some situations, the goal is not so much that they win as that some other person loses (e.g. the academic feud scenario). Another scenario would be to withhold truthful opinions that might benefit another out of fear of alienating them, particularly if that person has a history of retaliating against anyone who disagrees with them. This kind of hyper-rational thinking is 'well, if I criticize this, it might help the overall project but it would hurt me personally' (e.g. the corporate team player). In the ideal situation, this kind of hyper-rationality leads to win-win outcomes, if one can find a way to play a game that benefits both oneself and others. Playing with that goal in mind is of course something of an ethical choice. Maybe the behavior the author is describing could better be called 'rational fundamentalism'? It's not very healthy, being so sure that you've got the right answer, and also shuts down the playful spirit of inquiry that scientific progress has always relied upon. |