Article
Article name	The Irrationality of Public Consciousness
Authors	Ardashev R.G.Candidate of Law ardachev.rg@bk.ru
Bibliographic description	Ardashev R. G. The Irrationality of Public Consciousness // Humanitarian Vector. 2020. Vol. 15, No. 2. PP. 76–84. DOI: 10.21209/1996-7853-2020-15-2-76-84.
Section
DOI	10.21209/1996-7853-2020-15-2-76-84
UDK	801.31
Article type
Annotation	The article discusses the forms, conditions and features of the development of the irrational consciousness of our contemporaries. On the basis of increasing faith in supernatural, not logical but intuitive, prelogical knowledge, the idea of strengthening the irrationality of individuals and social groups, the emergence of new and the revival and strengthening of old explanatory models of social reproduction is proved. The example of our own empirical research shows the forms of irrationality, the causes and consequences of its actualization, changes in styles and forms of thinking, violation of cause-effect relationships and patterns, inconsistency of actions and many other processes based on prelogical thinking, social anomie of social reproduction. In addition, with the help of factor analysis, explanatory models and explanatory paradigms of thinking that are relevant for those who are prone to irrational thinking (sociocultural, socio-psychological, socio-educational, ideological-ideological form of irrationality of public consciousness) are considered. Examples of respondents’ answers about the importance and motivation of using irrational thinking in their ordinary everyday life are also given. The study takes into account both macro indicators of socio-cultural development (traditions, customs, beliefs) and micro indicators of social practices (rituals, social actions endowed with mystical power and supernatural strategies of explanation). The result of this study is the conclusion about the strengthening of the irrationality of thinking of contemporaries, which acts as an instrument of social adaptation to social changes, requiring new points of support for participants in social interactions, the search for new meanings of life, new strategies for explaining and interpreting events. The irrationality of thinking is a quasi-indicator of social reality, changing the conditions of social reproduction and social dynamics in general.
Key words	irrationality of consciousness, social anomie, social uncertainty, lack of confidence, lack of reference points
Article information
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