"On a dit que l'homme est un animal rationnel. Toute ma vie j'ai cherché des preuves qui pourraient soutenir cela."
— Bertrand Russell
Simplified Meaning:
People often say that humans are intelligent and make decisions based on logic and reason. However, the person who wrote this quote hasn’t seen much proof of this. Instead, they've likely seen people acting emotionally or irrationally, without much thought. For example, imagine a person who knows smoking is bad for their health but continues to smoke because it makes them feel good in the moment. This suggests that even though humans can think rationally, they often follow their emotions or habits instead. The quote implies that we should try to be more thoughtful in our decisions, using reason over impulsive feelings. In daily life, this can mean taking a moment to consider the long-term effects of our actions before making a choice.
Related tags
Evidence Human behavior Human nature Introspection Philosophy Rationality Reason Skepticism Thought Wisdom
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