Rational Irrationalities

We like to believe that we’re as rational as the human species has ever been in its evolutionary process. However, despite our ability to create and code artificial intelligences that do not let emotions and impulses get in the way of their decision making, we’re not even nearly as close to gaining this much control over our own minds. We throw ourselves into situations that are unnatural for us, fully realising the risk but even choosing to just accept it like the suicidal idiots we are. Like children, we run around fields of roses out of pure joy, completely oblivious to all the thorns that will leave us with scars and blood marks, looking as if we’ve taken part in an overly realistic reenactment of the crossing of Jesus Christ. The worst part? We’re more than happy to repeat that ritual all over again until death takes both our opportunity and stupidity away for good.

It seems absurd that some of us find peculiarity in a flight passenger having an anxiety attack, when you’re just like him about to be catapulted 35,000 feet above the ground. There is no safe and certain escape in sight other than some windows, and an evacuation slide which looks too similar to one of those tiny slides in water parks that are used by three year olds and perhaps their creepy uncles. At least you’ve got an oxygen mask that calms you down on your way to hell. I don’t know about you, but if you ask me, I think you’re the crazy one for not letting your anxiety tell you to get the hell out of there. And don’t you even think about the argument that flying is the safest form of travel. That’s like saying you can confidently drink your life away since there’s more people dying of sugar than alcohol. Since you’re already at it, feel free to swim confidently in a sea of sharks, as there’s more people being killed annually by cows than the former. One of them will probably get you one day anyway, and if not, then you can always make sure that you regularly step foot on a plane or take a seat in a car.

Since we’re already up in the air, we might as well stay here for a while. Although we’re closer to the ground than we would be on a plane (unless the plane is moving downwards), rollercoasters seem to cause way more people to scream, cry and sometimes even literally and figuratively shit themselves. You’re in a seat and buckled up more than you would be in a car or a plane, but you still scream your lungs out as if you’re slightly being touched by the Gods of death every time you reach the peak of the ride. The worst part about this is that you deliberately chose to put yourself in that position, and even more ridiculously, straight after having happily paid for it. Now see where that got you. You’re dangerously close to touching the clouds above you, disguising your absolute horror by screaming, only to show you’re an adrenaline junky, who gets europhic every time he gets closer to death one ride and insensible action at a time. As irrational and naïve as you are, you're completely aware of the fact that you'll pay for another one as soon as you regain ground underneath your feet and walk around like an invincible superhero from a CGI movie who's survived a plance crash. You don't question your potentially assisted suicide for even a single second of your time.

Whereas back in the days, people’s main goal in life was to survive, we seem to be so bored that we feel the need to switch it up a little and completely go the other way. However, this doesn’t only apply to our blind trust in putting ourselves in dangerous situations without believing that it might kill us. One of our most common irrationalities is not only about trusting ourselves, but particularly about trusting everyone else. We’re already pretty stupid for believing we can trust our impulsive, emotionally driven selves, but believing that we can trust someone whose actions are even more unpredictable and uncertain than our own is truly the safest source of regular disappointments and grief. You trust someone simply because you’re in love? I’m sorry to break it to you, but when did love ever stop anyone from adultery or lying when it only takes a couple of words to turn the truth into lies? Not even the risk of a death sentence has ever stopped anyone, so what makes you think you're powerful enough to do so? Wars have been started and cookie jars emptied, just because one part didn’t realise that trust is nothing but a weak prediction of someone’s actions, impossible to confirm its certainty. There’s is nothing special about you that can change the nature of your own life, let alone the universe’s chain of coincidences.

The hypocrites that we are, we obsess over threats like terrorism only shown on TV if it’s close enough to where we live, or McDonald’s Monopoly, which makes it tempting to take part in their whole eat fast food and die slowly agenda to get the slight but slim chance to win an X Box or a car. We indulge in judging people’s decisions and lives, whereas we ourselves don’t evaluate and realise the absurdity of our own irrationalities and threats we pose on ourselves each and every day. The lady behind me bought four frozen pizzas, chips and ice cream? I better grab a bottle of red to praise myself for not giving in to the temptation of a delicious but unhealthy diet, because at least I know what’s good for me and won’t develop type 2 diabetes before I’ve even had kids. That will obviously happen after I’ve stopped smoking. Perhaps it’s only for the best to live life obliviously, unaware of all its dangers and uncertainties, so we can believe in our immortality until we are once again, to our immediate but short surprise, proven wrong again.

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