Imagine a world where people form beliefs, views, and lifestyles not on reason, but instead based on what those are doing around them. One wouldn’t have to imagine this world, as this is the case for far to many people. By many people, rationality has been taken into disregard, but this is no surprise to anyone who has taken a closer look at today’s culture and what it fosters. Unwarranted concerns over the trivial and false beliefs dominate the lives of many Americans, especially the youth. Behaving in this way creates unneeded problems and incorrect beliefs; this is a tragedy.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, rationality is the “the quality or state of being agreeable to reason.” When applied to everyday life, rationality is having good reason to act a certain way or believe a certain thing. Why, might one ask, is this necessary for people to care about? Truth is totally lost without it. How is that so? Rationality is a tool in the pursuit of truth, and rationality is what guides one to good decision making through reason. From this use of reason to make decisions, not only are poor choices avoided, truth is able to be found and beliefs are based in logic. In essence, don’t do, believe, or formulate one’s worldview around something if there isn’t a good enough reason to support it. Without rationality, one would be more susceptible to impulse and lies would govern one’s life. And if that isn’t important, what is?

Although it is not the case for all, for many rationality is rarely found in their lives. In terms of daily life, worthless and petty things like social hierarchy and senseless actions occupy a lot of time. This behavior not only lacks reason for doing, they detract from the finer things in life. In the case of social hierarchy alone, especially in teenage years, unnecessary stress, hatred, and sorrow often result. Not only that, uncorroborated ideas riddle many parts of their worldview. Whether is be small or large, lack of reason causes problems.

Not only does rationality formulate reasoned beliefs and decisions, science has shown that it improves math and English performance in school. According to the Philosophy for Children Evaluation Report and Executive Summary, when students were taught philosophy, the pursuit of wisdom through reason, students performance in math, English, and writing increased dramatically.

For those who stand in agreement with this notion, enlighten the people around you to take action. Achieving a rational can be both easy and difficult, but consulting the right sources of wisdom make the path clearer.