Rational People: These Are Their 5 Characteristics

Rational people are not very common, because in the end what we understand today as rationality is a recent invention. And normally the existence of these individuals depends on where they were born and where they received their education during childhood and youth. Even today, adults in much of planet Earth continue to be guided by totally irrational beliefs and superstitions.

However, despite their rarity, when we are faced with a rational person they are immediately recognized… if we know how to pay attention to the appropriate signs.

This is what rational people are like in their daily lives.

Below you can see a list of traits that define rational people in their way of thinking and relating to others. Keep in mind, however, that despite the stereotypes about people with an analytical mindset, It’s not about robots Someone rational can also be very emotional on certain occasions; The difference is in the way emotions are regulated.

1. They wait for the best moment to make important decisions

It is very common that, in practice, the first moment in which we must make a choice or make a decision coincides with a moment in which we become very emotionally activated.

Let’s think, for example, when we are told that we have been accepted into a prestigious university located outside our country: if we let ourselves be carried away by euphoria, we may accept the place and begin to pay expenses for the transfer before considering whether We have enough savings to choose that route, or if there are other responsibilities to attend to in our city of residence.

That is why rational people They do not rush when making relevant decisions at least if they believe that there is an emotional state that is biasing their interpretation of the facts.

2. They know that emotion and rationality are inseparable

Even the most rational people are aware that human beings cannot pretend to be robots, purely objective entities that analyze facts coldly and distancing themselves from the facts. To believe otherwise would mean having no defenses to prevent cognitive biases and fall into a dogmatism according to which nothing is debatable.

Thus, by taking into account that emotions influence both where our attention is focused and the conclusions reached when analyzing that selected information, rational people have the opportunity to retrace their steps and ask themselves: if they made any mistakes in their way of reasoning.

3. They believe in the power of consensus

No matter how objective and rational we pretend to be, we do not have immediate access to the truth. That is why consensus helps us better understand what is happening. Because? Because By combining ideas and points of view, new explanations appear and solutions to questions.

Thus, rationality necessarily implies exchange of points of view and debate. It is not a linear thought process carried out by a single person, for a very simple reason: being human means having access to a very limited amount of information and not having time to learn everything about reality There will always be someone who knows more than us about a particular topic, and the most reasonable thing to do is to listen to what they have to say.

4. They experience their social relationships in a constructive way

Tending towards rationality means that, when faced with the possibility of fighting with a friend or family member, do not act from resentment and the desire for revenge

Thus, the way in which these disputes are managed is based on the fact that the objective is not to make our actions correspond to what is being felt, but to what should be. It is an important nuance that, although it does not imply that the other will not be made to suffer (if it is assumed that an exemplary punishment will cause a similar situation), it avoids many unnecessary dramas, since an emotional reaction increases the chances of an emotional response appears on the part of the other.

5. They try to foresee the risks

Another defining characteristic of rational people is that They do not give in easily to their impulses since before taking actions that may compromise someone’s well-being, they consider the risks and benefits.

Of course, this is a relative characteristic, since there is no human being capable of stopping to constantly think about what the consequences of their actions may be in the medium and long term. However, rational people do it much more frequently than the rest, and they are especially skilled at detecting those moments when it is worth stopping to think and not giving in to the most immediate desires.