The term "rational" used in this way does not imply that the human reasoning process will always be accurate, or correct! It simply relates to the fact that human beings act on the basis of their reasoning ability, whether or not such a process has led to a correct, or an incorrect, conclusion.

Because human beings are reasoners, they are continually engaged in a process of using the subjective abilities of their minds to accumulate and test data and evidence, in order to discover what the truth is.

Humans are seekers of truth by nature. They have to be! Survival of homo sapiens depends upon the individual's ability to learn the nature of materials and other organisms in the world. Without such knowledge, the human individual, and the species, would not survive.

Humans have not always found truth, but they have found enough of it so far to arrange a fairly workable relationship between themselves and the other natural elements and inhabitants of this planet.

For example, men and women have learned that there is a predictable cause-and-effect pattern in many circumstances. If one plants corn, he or she will harvest corn, if they harvest at all. Success of the harvest is not guaranteed, but one knows that planting corn will not result in a crop of carrots, or apples, or roses.

If one lets go of an object he is holding, that object will fall downward to the ground. It will not fly off at an angle or shoot up into the sky, unless it is thrown, blown, or has some motor power of its own.

The ability of human beings to survive relates directly to the fact that the universe acts predictably in accordance with certain objective natural laws or principles. Humans do not invent this order of nature, they discover and are bound by it. As observed earlier, this is the objective world of reality.