Rational Human beings - Oxymoron?

I visited the Changi air show a couple of weeks ago to re-live my fantasy to fly man's greatest creation at 2.5 mach’s. The planes on display included the F-16C Falcon, F15C- Eagle, T-6B, Heron 1, PC-2, Airbus A380. However this spread does not even come close to the air show held in Bangalore.

As usual there were hoards of people, queuing up for hours to catch a glimpse of their fav fighters in action, to get a pic of the latest killer machine on display and to get an update on the latest in missile technology.

As I watched my fellow human beings, the following thought occurred to me: Why do we as human beings get excited by machines that have been built to destroy us?

As a "rational" creature, some of the "rational" answers i had were:

• It must be because we find safety in the fact that these machines are out there to protect us if needed OR
• It will never be used against us as it has not been used for decades OR
• I am not sensitive to the fact that these machines can destroy all one's got as I have never experienced its destructive power OR
• Its just cool to go watch the adreline pumping fighter jets in action OR
• We can go check out the hot chicks at the show and maybe get lucky OR etc,etc

I'm sure there are a million other "rational" reasons why we go to the shows, but what ever they maybe, it appears to me that a rational decision is only as rational as the decision maker.