Whatever you decide to do together, it’s likely going to need to start with naming more than just the hobby itself – it’s going to start with naming exactly what it means. A second-year Ph.D. student in chemical and biological engineering, Evelyn Navarro Salazar was recognized for her work as a preceptor in “Mass, Momentum, and Energy Transport.”

Keeping this in mind might help you feel what you’re feeling, without reproach. You’re not just being mean, or taking an irrational dislike of a perfectly pleasant person. You’re feeling that this relationship isn’t strong enough for the tests it’s being put through – and in a way, why would it be? In an essay from 2003 – The Problem of Thinking Too Much – the statistician Persi Diaconis recounts being unable to make his mind up about a move from Stanford University to Harvard. After much discussion, a colleague says: “You’re one of our leading decision theorists – maybe you should make a list of the costs and benefits and calculate your expected utility.” To which Diaconis replies: “Come on, Sandy, this is serious.” Even statistical decision theorists do not make serious choices by consulting cold, textbook models. Like the rest of us, they resort to a knottier combination of deliberation, gut feel and blind hope. For choices, so too for beliefs, which, when met with evidence, are pushed and pulled by processes that are equally mysterious. I'm not sure Stop Being Reasonable tells me a lot about my own situation, though I could no doubt think that through more carefully to get some insights. Either way, it's well-written, accessible, engaging and yet at the same time not at all dumbed down in how it presents its case, drawing on a seamless collection of contemporary and canonical philosophy, popular culture, journalism et al. What its argument boils down to is that conventional rationality is not sufficient (or even adequate) to explain why people change their minds, using a quite varied set of empirical case studies to support the argument. The people concerned have changed their minds in quite dramatic - but not conventionally rational - circumstances. This then has implications for how people can be persuaded to change their minds by others, and therefore it is significant to politics, public education campaigns etc.Gordon-Smith’s silence on this question – of what rationality requires of us – might seem like a shortcoming, but in the end it is strategic. She debunks easy answers while shrewdly adopting a position of intellectual humility. She thinks we are ignorant of rationality’s demands, and “very close to the edge of what we know how to talk about at all sensibly”. That means we need a range of people participating in the conversation. That’s why last year, we asked for funding support to bring another philosopher into our team. Thanks to our donors, we are excited to share that we have recently appointed Eleanor Gordon-Smith as a Fellow. Already established as one of Australia’s leading young thinkers, Eleanor is a published author, broadcaster and in demand speaker. She’s also currently reading for her PHD at Princeton University. To welcome her on board and introduce her to you, our community, we sat down for a brief get-to-know-you chat with her. Tell us, what attracted you to becoming a philosopher? Eleanor Gordon-Smith is expected to graduate in May with a Ph.D. in philosophy . She was nominated for her work as an student assistant in instruction (AI) in “Introduction to Moral Philosophy” and “Systematic Ethics.”

I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.' — Ira GlassThe second thing you’d get from reflecting on why you want this is a more productive conversation with your wife. She might have legitimate objections to the particulars here (if it’s actually motorcycling, the risks; if it’s a sex thing, monogamy). And she might be entitled to hold on to them. But if you can tell her what you want to feel, whether it’s excited or invigorated or like your own person again, it’s a lot harder to just say “nope”.