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Comment by akvadrako | Hacker News Reader

This can't be true by definition. Being maximally rational means behaving optimally. If your behavior doesn't provide a good cost-benefit ratio, what it wan't rational to begin with.

One big issue I see with people acting "rationally" is they don't take into account all factors, like the time it takes to analyse your options vs just going with your gut.

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The title is pretty in-line with what article has to say, and it actually elaborates on what you wrote. I think it's not that big of a deal when a bit of meaning fell through the cracks when whole thing was summarized in one sentence.

Are you commenting the headline or the article?

I don't agree with you on this completely, even though I'm very pragmatic and usually very rational myself. Sometimes it's better to consider the emotional effects your decision has, rather than just the logical reasons to pick A or B. I learned that the company lives and dies with their employees so sometimes making the rational decision can cost you a lot, even though, most people would agree with you about it being the right decision.

> Sometimes it's better to consider the emotional effects your decision has, rather than just the logical reasons to pick A or B. I learned that the company lives and dies with their employees so sometimes making the rational decision can cost you a lot, even though, most people would agree with you about it being the right decision.

You talk about eschewing "just the logical reasons", and then describe a perfectly logical decision making process. I'm confused.

Do you believe that logical decisions can only involve quantitative factors?

How is it rational to dismiss any emotional effects of your decisions? Especially if you value your employees (and if you don't value your employees you are probably not thinking rationally either).

I can't help but downvote your comment: it really seems as if you only read the headline and not the article itself.

"Maximally rational" is impossible, physically, computationally and biologically. Your second paragraph describes the effects of that, and the second sentence of your first paragraph describes the consequences: attempting to be maximally rational is often not the best strategy.

More like, "It's not going to do you any favors, because you've already done them all yourself."

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