## [D]Is Mary Poppins a rationalist?

* Author: u/trekie140 *
* URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/4vqq14/dis_mary_poppins_a_rationalist/
* Score: 19

* Created: 2016-08-02T04:26:18

### Post:

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I got around to rewatching Mary Poppins and noticed a couple things that I thought would make for an interesting discussion. If Mary cares about making people happy and fixing problems they have, her magical powers seem wasted on a dysfunctional upper class family when she could do much more to help people in greater need.

However, if one thing is clear about the Banks family, it's that their troubles are the kind that can be easily solved with a bit of magic. Their only problem was that they were all well meaning but misguided, so all that Mary had to do was create situations where they would realize their mistakes and learn to care for one another better. They were just so wrapped up in their own worlds that they didn't realize how unhappy things were.

But even more importantly, the Banks are an influential family. The father is a rising star in banking, the mother is a major political activist, and the children will presumably grow up to be influential as well. In teaching them all how to be care for one another, Mary has also taught them how to care for others. They will be compassionate and charitable with everyone in the worlds of business and politics.

What evidence do I have that Mary had that impact on them? Why Bert, of course! We're never told how he knows Mary, but I think it's fair to assume she helped him in the past like she did with the Banks. If there's one term to describe Bert it is "infectiously happy", he just brings joy wherever he goes and even has some serious discussions with them about their lives. If people like that were more common, particularly among the socially powerful, wouldn't that be a good thing?

Now don't get me wrong, Mary Poppins is by no means an example of rational fiction. The sheer absurdity of the story seems to indicate it's proud of how irrational it is. But maybe using fantastic powers to change the right person's life isn't all that irrational. Maybe not all rationalists have to take over the world to make it a better place, maybe sometimes it can just be about [making someone happy.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jxF-FeOCxlg)

### Comments:

> **u/Escapement** [+6]  *Ankh-Morpork City Watch* (8 hours later)
> 
> Have you ever read Travers' book? It's substantially different than the Disney version - the adaptation changed many things, but most of all the tone of the story. For example, the Banks are less well off, and rather than blowing other nannies out of the way, Travers' books have the following occur:
> 
> >"But if it were me—I mean I—well, I should get somebody to put in the Morning Paper the news that Jane and Michael and John and Barbara Banks (to say nothing of their Mother) require the best possible Nannie at the lowest possible wage and at once. Then I should wait and watch for the Nannies to queue up outside the front gate, and I should get very cross with them for holding up the traffic and making it necessary for me to give the policeman a shilling for putting him to so much trouble. Now I must be off. Whew, it's as cold as the North Pole. Which way is the wind blowing?"
> 
> And, as that hints, that seems like an unattractive advertisement, and Mary Poppins is the only applicant - no need to blow others away. She does still fly in, though.

> **u/chaosmosis** [+5]  *and with strange aeons, even death may die* (20 hours later)
> 
> I sometimes try to live my life as though I'm Mary Poppins going for exponential takeoff, by which I mean I try to make other people so happy that they will try as hard as I or harder to make other people this happy.

> **u/PeridexisErrant** [+1]  *put aside fear for courage, and death for life* (a day later)
> 
> No.  Mary Poppins *arguably* takes actions which are surprisingly effective.
> 
> However, she is not explicitly shown to demonstrate or attempt *epistemic rationality* ('truth-seeking'), which is a key component of "rationalist" stories or characters - it's a high standard.  This should ideally be linked to *instrumental rationality* (efficient pursuit of goals).
> 
> At /r/rational, we additionally require that the setting should be consistent, and characters should have realistic motivations - this makes writing and learning from a good story much easier.

>> **u/trekie140** [+1]  (a day later)
>> 
>> You're right, but I'm still happy I posted this.

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