Essential Irrationality by MA Alam was recently brought out by Blue Rose Publishers. This book discusses how irrationalities affect our lives, and how to cope with them. Irrationalities in our behaviour have been observed to be essential aspects of human nature.
Most of the irrationalities have their origin in the adaptive strategies developed by millions of years of evolution to cope with the harsh environmental conditions of the ancient past of humans.
Consequently, people developed quick response systems to meet successfully the challenges of their ancestral environment. They were essential for human survival, but a few have now become redundant in the modern conditions, and are looked down as ridiculous biases. Some irrationalities have actually been found to be essential and beneficial for the well being and growth of the species.
During the last few thousand years of human development, people additionally acquired a large number of belief systems, superstitions and faiths. Some of these beliefs are not quite rational and reasonable. They mould the human personality by affecting opinions, decisions, actions and behaviours. According to author, “When you hold beliefs without ascertaining their validity, you start losing your ability to doubt and question your beliefs. Fortunately, along with these developments we also created a reservoir of verifiable knowledge by using rational methods during last few hundred years of our existence. We have a responsibility to familiarise ourselves with these techniques to avoid pitfalls of assuming all beliefs to be true.” This book is currently available at Amazon bookstore.