Behaving Rationally

There are two components to behaving rationally.  To be rational, of course, one must grasp the inherent truth of logic and assume nothing; yes, someone could believe the right things about the intrinsic truth and basic self-evidence of logical axioms for the right reasons and still believe other things on the basis of assumptions, but in this case, disregarding reason selectively does not mean they are entirely irrational strictly because they really did discover the foundational nature of logical axioms.  To behave rationally, though, one must not simply believe the right things for the right reasons.  One must also live in light of them.

Oh, it could be very difficult in one sense for an extremely exhausted person or someone accustomed to a life of delusion or apathy to come to logical axioms and realize them for what they are (not all their ramifications, but the mere fact that they cannot be false without being true and so cannot be false).  But once someone has become a rationalist, realizing many of the great number of truths which are not epistemologically self-evident—the enormously vast majority of them since almost nothing is capable of having this quality—can become quite easy.  Logic is very simple.  Though some logical truths are very nuanced, elaborate, and much more difficult to discover than logical axioms (or the necessary fact that one is conscious and thus exists if one experiences anything), nothing else underpins logic.  It is the other way around.  Logic underpins everything else.

Indeed, logic is simple in part because it does not reduce down to anything else.  Knowing logic can be simple because of this.  Much more difficulty can lie in living as if what is true and what one knows as a rationalist is true really is.  Personality, external circumstance, and the potential allure of self-benefit can make it very challenging for some to consistently behave as if they are really committed to genuine rationalism, even when they are fully aware it is true.  In particular, navigating through pain poses its own deeply personal challenges that could tempt someone to compromise on their rationality (or moral character)—after all, someone might still believe the right things for the right reasons, which might make it seem justified to not behave accordingly when doing otherwise is very personally costly.

Oh, it can be advantageous in some ways to still do as one pleases.  Will a rationalist fail to be fully rationalistic by bowing to pressures from other people to relinquish devotion to reason or by allowing adverse circumstances to dull their allegiance to what cannot be false?  Personal gratification or social approval can be quite alluring for certain people, at least in the right conditions.  But logical necessity is truth which depends on nothing but itself.  It does not change with circumstances, perception, or whim.  It is hypocrisy to know rationalistic truths and then behave as if they are not actually correct to make one's life easier.

It is irrational to ignore the real nature of logic or selectively cling to it as the basis for true knowledge.  The same is true of knowing reason and then living as it if it not relevant.  Since logic cannot be false, to betray rationalism by living in a manner inconsistent with its truths is the ultimate form of hypocrisy after that of denying that logical axioms are even true in the first place.  This does not mean that living as a rationalist is always easy.  While it certainly makes various aspects of life easier, non-rationalists can also have easier lives precisely because they are not concerned with intrinsic, objective truths, instead fixating on whatever assumptions and practices subjectively appeal to them.  Yet reason remains true in itself.  Beyond knowing this, the only valid thing to do is live like it.