Exercise Your Reason

I just re-read Alex Tarabarrok's review of "Is Capitalism Making Us Stupid?" (see previous post). It is filled with interesting ideas. 

Was it reason that gave us representative democracy, the market and human rights? Was it the process of argumentation, debate and experimentation that brought us these things? If we fall away from reason, to intuition, are we falling back to a state of barbarism? Back to tribal blood feuds?

Is it reason that keeps us from killing each other? And is it emotion and intuition that others use for their own ends to bring us to the edge of destroying each other?

Would it be better to make bets on political ideas? Instead of having people vote their beliefs, what if people had to place bets on policy, to put their money on the outcome? Is "A bet is a tax on bullshit."

Food for thought... might make you want to exercise your reason.