A rational person is... The concept and characteristics of a rational person

• September 15, 2018
• Psychology of thinking
• Sergey Severny

A rational person is a person who strives to be guided exclusively by reason in his actions. Such an individual is inclined to knowledge, but differs from the empiricist, who is ready to take action and draw a conclusion based on experience. Rationalists are accustomed to contemplating and thinking, so this type of worldview often manifests itself among scientists. This kind of attitude allows one to open one’s mentality to new knowledge, which, in turn, helps to define one or another critical issue of the owner of an inquisitive mind. Rational thinking creates a multifaceted corridor of possibilities, allows you to look at the world and events in it differently, and also get rid of preconceived attitudes towards anything.

What is rationalism in its classical sense?

There is a question and an answer to it. A problem and its solution, which can be found with the help of reason. There is nothing immaterial or not created for understanding in this world, since the entire Universe is material. This is roughly how rationalism can be described. This is a kind of installation for a follower who evaluates the surrounding space solely as questions and answers. He tries to comprehend what is happening, guided by his mental consciousness.

Also, rationalism is the predominance of the arguments of reason over naked conviction. In fact, this idea is at the origins of philosophy, designed to explain to a reasonable person how the world works. Rationalism often manifested itself in the nature and behavior of great mathematicians and physicists, who are precisely engaged in dividing and systematizing the surrounding space, making it possible to understand and accept it.

Rationalization in psychology

Rationalization in psychology is a term introduced by S. Freud, and subsequently an entire concept, which was developed by A. Freud. Rationalization is aimed at avoiding intrapersonal conflict by explaining the events that happened from the point of view of conscious choice, while in reality actions and choices were carried out not by the controlling part of consciousness, but under the guidance of unconscious motives.

Rationalization is a defense mechanism that allows you to hide unpleasant or objectionable thoughts and feelings not only from society, but also from yourself. Being the most common mechanism for protecting the psyche from frustrating moments, rationalization has nothing to do with deliberate deception or attempts to justify itself. The entire mechanism of action occurs outside the control of consciousness, but can be logical and have quite significant arguments behind it. However, in the construction of rationalization concepts there is only a small fraction of truth, and the rest is replaced by fantasy and substitution of concepts, which poses a threat to a person’s personality.

The world of the innovator is simple, structured, predictable, the person himself is confident, with increased self-esteem and preserved self-respect. With this approach, the living connection with reality is disrupted and new sources of experience, which often comes through painful sensations, are inaccessible. The person’s personality itself is impoverished, from which all negative (regarding the person’s beliefs), but possibly quite useful (evolutionary) skills, feelings and desires are cut out.

Rationalization in psychology is a concept that is quite wide in its spectrum of manifestations - from the protective mechanism of the psyche of a normal person (which does not significantly affect the course of life and development) to the symptoms of a psychiatric clinic, as one of the types of delusion (when the evidence base, based on logical constructs, is aimed at maintaining delusional patient concept).

The difficulty in working with this type of mental reaction depends on the stage of rationalization beliefs. In some cases, it can be quite easy to show a person that the arguments he is giving are far-fetched, after which work begins with traumatic experiences hidden behind false explanations of the situation. And there are cases when logical challenging and citing any facts does not give any result. In this version, moments of rationalization are closely associated with the immediate safety of the human ego or stand guard over a deep traumatic experience. In the presence of such strong resistance, it makes no sense to break the defense by force, since there is a high probability that the psyche does not have the necessary resources at a given time point to integrate the experience that will have to be endured if the protective barrier is removed. In this context, it makes sense to first work on finding resources and approach the traumatic area carefully, focusing on the client’s readiness to contact his own experiences.

Methods of rationalization have two manifestations - a person either justifies himself or seeks explanations in factors not related to his person (circumstances, actions of others). Whatever direction (relative to the inner world or external factors) the rationalization takes, it is worthwhile, listening to reality, to catch the moment when this mechanism acquires serious dimensions and becomes impenetrable with a simple conversation and indication of facts. You should also pay attention to the long-term use of rationalization for pain relief in the place of repeated cases or in relation to the whole world, as a way of existence. In such cases, it is worth looking into psychotherapists, whose main work, when removing rationalization, comes down to the ability to show that the real world is not so terrible, and true actions and desires will not lead to global cataclysms. That you can live as a happy person, having shortcomings, negative emotions, aggressive thoughts - you just have to look at how many people live like this and find your own way of organizing the surrounding space so that the world or the person himself is not disgusted with himself.

The essence of rationalism

A rational person is not a fanatic or a follower of a cult. The movement itself does not have the characteristic features of an idea suitable for forming a circle of followers. It can be said that rationalism is a course that a person can choose consciously. True, one who is convinced of the reign of reason over the irrational desire to give this or that thing an intangible and inexplicable nature is able to do this.

You should not attribute negativism to rational thinking, because this is not the case. A supporter of this worldview does not deny the fact, but tries to find an explanation for it using reason. Rational and irrational people are avid opponents in debate. Some supporters of the second camp even point to Kant, mistakenly believing him to be a rationalist who accepted the fact that the inexplicable exists. However, irrationalists should not be confused with ordinary fanatics.

Benefits of rationalization

Of course, rationalization has certain advantages. The world and people around begin to seem simple and understandable. We can somehow explain any fact or event to ourselves. If we suddenly acted unworthily, with the help of such a mechanism we will be able to “get away with it”, maintain self-respect and self-worth. In addition, all the things that we subconsciously want, but cannot get, become unnecessary. And we can rationally justify everything that does not suit us. For example, reluctance to leave a job you don’t like, citing proximity to home and habit.

This type of interpretation of situations helps a person remain unchanged. He simply selects suitable arguments every time. As if it’s not he who regularly cannot solve similar problems, but something wrong with the world and those around him.

What do rationalists think they are?

Often these are people whose activities are directly related to the thought process. The characteristics of a rational person are an open mind, an inquisitive mind, a willingness to learn new things, and a passionate desire to gain knowledge. They are skeptical about the truisms imposed by society and question any fact that has not been proven, for example, by a mathematical theorem, that is, in a way that can be repeated.

Often rationalism awakens in perfectionists, since both of them are not satisfied with a certain object, or rather its nature, in the existing picture of the world. In an attempt to restore their balance, they strive at any cost to characterize the object, which sometimes causes misunderstanding among more creative people who perceive the environment as it is, without asking questions.

How to find and work through rationalization

A rational person tends to quickly analyze and evaluate various situations. From the outside it seems that even in the most complex of them he does not need time to think; he makes a decision in a matter of seconds. He always knows why circumstances turned out this way and not differently.

There are several ways to reduce the impact of rationalization:

1. Think about how quickly you can analyze a situation.
2. Pay attention to the connections you make between events.
3. Allow yourself to at least sometimes fully feel and experience emotions. And it doesn’t matter what they will be - positive or negative.
4. You should not label or explain the behavior of people around you. Just watch.
5. Don't try to evaluate a situation immediately after it happens. Don't give advice.
6. Give up the habit of systematization and templates.

And the most important rule in the fight against rationalization is to perceive every situation, emotion or feeling as something interesting, something that does not correspond to any patterns or stereotypes. Only in this case will life also be interesting.

What defines rationalism?

There are several key factors that determine whether an individual belongs to a given idea of ​​​​viewing the world. A rational person is a researcher, he is open to new ideas and considers any knowledge to be a key goal of human development. In his understanding, skills and information cannot be good or bad; they exist to concretize and clarify the world. Those who are constantly thoughtful tend to be rational. From the point of view of this idea, thought determines consciousness and the material environment, and therefore is dominant. A rational person is a person with a huge horizon, who is ready to comprehend new things, regardless of circumstances and his own age.

At-risk groups

Rationalization as a way to protect the psyche from unwanted emotions is quite popular. Many people use it. But most often those who really need psychological help. There are 2 categories at risk:

1. Obsessive personalities. They doubt everything. And it doesn’t matter what it is - the person himself, his abilities, the people around him, his work, etc. All the doubts they have over time become obsessive thoughts.
2. Sociopaths. It is difficult for such people to build adequate relationships with society, as well as accept generally accepted rules and norms. They often show aggression and impulsiveness.

Rationalization is dangerous in any case, regardless of whether the person is at risk or not.

Principles of rationalism

The movement is largely formed thanks to certain cornerstones laid by its researchers and founders. In the case of rationalism, such a foundation is its principles:

• Knowledge is obtained by reason. Any information or skill must be comprehended by the human mind. In fact, knowledge is a product of the study of a particular object by the thought of an individual. It's priceless. It is knowledge that is the main value of supporters of rationalism.
• The world is material. Rationalists believe that the entire world around us is material and suitable for knowledge. Objects distant from humanity are only things hidden from thought, but they can be recognized by using new knowledge. Thus the cycle of knowledge is closed. Therefore, some people call rationalism an endless race for knowledge for the sake of information itself, and not for a higher goal.
• Science comes first. Everything in this world can be identified and studied using scientific instruments. Rationalists put science as the only possible way to understand ourselves and the world.
• The “spiritual” does not exist without the material. In this case, spirituality means, for example, a sense of beauty or good taste. They are a product of human mental perception, which, in turn, is based on the thought process, the mind, which is material in nature.
• Morality is a product of the material, since it is designed to prohibit and prevent damage to an object capable of generating thought.

Rational people are often disciplined and rely heavily on their reason. You should not expect support from them in spiritualism or occultism; a supporter of this movement simply will not understand the speaker. However, as mentioned earlier, rationalists are open to new knowledge.

Examples from life

Imagine a girl who lives in a small apartment in a residential area. She works in the center. Every day it takes 2 hours to get to work. This girl’s dream is to buy an apartment in the center. But for many years now she has not been able to save the required amount of money. And at some point she begins to look for excuses for the current circumstances. First, he convinces himself that the new apartment will probably have to be renovated, which will take a lot of effort, time and money. In addition, although the apartment will be in the center, it is far from the metro. Consequently, getting to work will be inconvenient.

With the help of rationalization and such justifications, the girl tries to protect her psyche from disappointment and the realization that, at least at the moment, she cannot fulfill her desire and buy an apartment. In this case, rationalization seems to push back reality. It protects the psyche, but the problem remains. The heroine needs to understand why she is not getting closer to her dream. The financial issue comes first. So, maybe instead of looking for excuses, it’s better to change your job to a better paying one? Or open a savings account in a bank? What do you think about it?

Another example of rationalization. Imagine a man who went shopping with his wife looking for a dress. She needs something beautiful and expensive, suitable for a quick meeting of her classmates. The woman tried on a dozen different models, but her husband did not approve of any of them. Everywhere he found some kind of flaw. Here the color doesn’t suit, and there it’s too short. Buttons are out of place on this dress. As a result, the spouse is left without a purchase.

Why is this happening? The fact is that a man cannot afford to pay for such an expensive thing. And he understands this perfectly. But to protect his psyche from this unpleasant realization, he looks for flaws in every thing his wife chooses. And he sincerely believes that the reasons for the refusal are more than objective.

Flow Basics

Most researchers agree on where exactly rationalism appeared. Its founder was Socrates (approximately 469-399 BC, Ancient Greece), who called for knowing yourself before exploring the world. Although he was not a convinced supporter of the worldview, he nevertheless formed its foundations. Later, the idea of ​​rationalism was brought to its logical conclusion by scientists Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, supporters of the exact sciences and who introduced a certain factor of orderliness into their fields. The Age of Enlightenment is considered the period when rationalism came to the fore. Man gained the ability to think about the sublime and engage in research, since he was no longer in a constant search for food or trying to survive. This paved the way for science.

Contrast with empiricism

Despite the fact that the ideas of rationalism and empiricism cannot be opposed in their primary form, supporters of these two worldview ideas often enter into confrontation regarding the methods of understanding the world. So, for example, rationalists advocate giving an object a qualitative characteristic based only on the thought process, while an empiricist must touch, try, experience it. The opposition of thought to experience is illogical, but it still occurs. Leibniz himself directly notes in his work “Monadology”:

“We are all three-quarters empiricists.”

This indicates that proponents of rationalism are often empiricists and vice versa.

Kant's contribution

Supporters of Kant's ideas are probably aware that this philosopher began as a rationalist. Later, he transformed the classical idea of ​​knowing the world through thought and experience into something unified - transcendental idealism. In his understanding, determining the nature of an object using reason and experience are complementary concepts that serve a single purpose - the search for knowledge. He created the definition of “thing in itself,” which means an object that cannot be defined and characteristics cannot be assigned to it. Moreover, such a subject should not be studied. He believed that the work of the mind begins when thought reaches the threshold of the known.

Varieties and methods

Rationalization, considered as a psychological defense mechanism, comes in two types:

• direct - the individual justifies his own actions, thoughts and feelings;
• indirect—external objects are involved in justification.

Also in psychology there are several subtypes of this process:

1. Personal or group rationalization. In the first case, the individual protects exclusively himself. In the second - a group of people with which he associates himself.
2. Current rationalization. Valid for a short period of time.
3. Anticipatory rationalization. The unpleasant situation has not yet occurred, and the person already begins to look for excuses for his actions in advance.

Rationalization as a method of psychological defense is characterized by the use of different methods. There are 6 of them in total:

1. Depreciation of the goal. The loss in the competition is explained by bad prizes, which it would be foolish to strive for.
2. Discrediting the victim. Let's say a person offended someone. In his defense, he will say that the opponent himself is to blame and in a similar situation would have acted in exactly the same way.
3. Strengthening the role of circumstances. When rationalizing, circumstances are always used to justify what happened.
4. Harm for good. Many people sincerely believe in the rightness of their actions towards others. They explain them with the words: “it will be better for them,” “I tried for their own good.”
5. Discrediting oneself. A person makes himself a victim. He demonstratively agrees that he did a bad thing and talks about how bad it makes him. Who would argue with such a sufferer?
6. Self-deception.

Each of the listed methods of rationalization causes certain harm to the human personality.

Understanding the Worldview

Becoming a rational person is not so easy. You need to work hard for this. The result largely depends on the individual’s acceptance of the worldview of this category of people. The signs of a rational person are not height, weight or temperament type. It is also important to understand that this is not a cult - a rationalist, for example, can be a teacher, a miner, a businessman, or even a janitor who reads works on biology at night. These people do not seek recognition; their true Grail is the understanding of all things, infinite knowledge, the characteristics of all objects. It is extremely difficult to learn this; in addition, the process involves abandoning previously accepted truths. A rational person is one who questions everything, including his own knowledge.

What does rationalization lead to?

Even though rationalization may seem harmless at first glance, there is not much benefit. The main problem is that a person does not solve his problems, but defends himself from them. In the hope of “saving face,” we try to appear better than we are, and this only aggravates the difficulties that have arisen.

We label, simplify and use the same schemes over and over again. Life becomes gray, a person ceases to be surprised by anything and becomes less attentive to reality.