My OperaLogic and emotion
Saturday, October 23, 2010 1:41:14 AM
I've read somewhere recently that humans are emotional beings; and since then I've been wondering how true that is. By most people's standard, I'm very rational -- probably also comically logical and personally detached from most things. (Well, maybe my blog posts don't really support that statement, but they are exceptions). By most MIT students' standard, however, I seem a bit emotional -- or so I've been told. For some reasons, I used to spend time pondering which end of the spectrum is right, and was completely oblivious about the obvious answer: neither.
I have yet to see or hear of any human without emotions. This may seem like something easily falsified; but I did put a lot of thoughts into it and still couldn't find a non-fictional example. Most people shows a wide range of emotions, while a few only express some: anger, greed, you name it. So humans are subject to their own and other people's emotions, although not everyone understand and act on them. Regardless, they are still there.
While most people, however, are not rational, thinking rationally is a learnable skill. Many even have a natural tendency toward facts and logic. So maybe the statement "humans are emotional beings" is not completely accurate or, at best, oversimplifies?
It is true, though, that humans are driven by emotions -- even though they may not always realize it. If you are a very logical and nerdy person, you probably would choose to hang out and make friends with other logical and nerdy people, and that is for an emotional reason: you enjoy their company. Or maybe you actually spend most time around people you don't like but have to socialize with to advance your career; well, you also do that out of an emotion: the desire to succeed. You may have decided that the only purpose of your life is to solve the P=NP problem, and that too, is because of the satisfaction you would feel when accomplishing that. Would you still work on it if you know that you'd be indifferent about the outcome? No matter what you want to achieve in your life, you feel the desire to achieve it. That is an emotion, regardless of whether it has a rational or emotional justification.
Regardless of what the answer is, or whether there is an answer, I'm pleased with my share of emotion and rationale and the way I use them. Just as a true master of something understands its limitations, I believe that a truly logical person should be someone who understands where and when logic can be applied. This is not to say that I am a true master of logic. I do, however, think about whether something is a logic or emotion matter, and approach it accordingly.
Personally I think the two are fundamentally different: logic is a method, and emotion is an experience. I think my driving emotion is curiosity. There is of course the usual stuff: the curiosity for facts, for truths, for the understanding of the universe and all that. But the more important aspect of being curious, I think, is the desire to understand different emotions and the experience associated with them. Most people don't welcome adversity and negative feelings, but I do. I value negative experience, I like to unleash any emotion -- negative or not -- I may have about it. Since emotions are so commonly considered the driving force and something personal, it may look like I'm overwhelmed by them.
In the end, however, I chose to experience the emotion and would feel glad and satisfied that I did. I truly see life as a game; and as with any video game, I want to get as close to 100% as possible. Thus it's really not about what approach -- logic or emotion -- is right or more favorable, it's about how I want to play this game. So, you know, experience, be open-minded, take risk, seek adventures, love the adventures, not be afraid -- to think, to try, to feel, fail, succeed, be social, be lonely, be emo, be annoying, get annoyed, find people, avoid people, be silly, be excitable, be happy. All that.
I have yet to see or hear of any human without emotions. This may seem like something easily falsified; but I did put a lot of thoughts into it and still couldn't find a non-fictional example. Most people shows a wide range of emotions, while a few only express some: anger, greed, you name it. So humans are subject to their own and other people's emotions, although not everyone understand and act on them. Regardless, they are still there.
While most people, however, are not rational, thinking rationally is a learnable skill. Many even have a natural tendency toward facts and logic. So maybe the statement "humans are emotional beings" is not completely accurate or, at best, oversimplifies?
It is true, though, that humans are driven by emotions -- even though they may not always realize it. If you are a very logical and nerdy person, you probably would choose to hang out and make friends with other logical and nerdy people, and that is for an emotional reason: you enjoy their company. Or maybe you actually spend most time around people you don't like but have to socialize with to advance your career; well, you also do that out of an emotion: the desire to succeed. You may have decided that the only purpose of your life is to solve the P=NP problem, and that too, is because of the satisfaction you would feel when accomplishing that. Would you still work on it if you know that you'd be indifferent about the outcome? No matter what you want to achieve in your life, you feel the desire to achieve it. That is an emotion, regardless of whether it has a rational or emotional justification.
Regardless of what the answer is, or whether there is an answer, I'm pleased with my share of emotion and rationale and the way I use them. Just as a true master of something understands its limitations, I believe that a truly logical person should be someone who understands where and when logic can be applied. This is not to say that I am a true master of logic. I do, however, think about whether something is a logic or emotion matter, and approach it accordingly.
Personally I think the two are fundamentally different: logic is a method, and emotion is an experience. I think my driving emotion is curiosity. There is of course the usual stuff: the curiosity for facts, for truths, for the understanding of the universe and all that. But the more important aspect of being curious, I think, is the desire to understand different emotions and the experience associated with them. Most people don't welcome adversity and negative feelings, but I do. I value negative experience, I like to unleash any emotion -- negative or not -- I may have about it. Since emotions are so commonly considered the driving force and something personal, it may look like I'm overwhelmed by them.
In the end, however, I chose to experience the emotion and would feel glad and satisfied that I did. I truly see life as a game; and as with any video game, I want to get as close to 100% as possible. Thus it's really not about what approach -- logic or emotion -- is right or more favorable, it's about how I want to play this game. So, you know, experience, be open-minded, take risk, seek adventures, love the adventures, not be afraid -- to think, to try, to feel, fail, succeed, be social, be lonely, be emo, be annoying, get annoyed, find people, avoid people, be silly, be excitable, be happy. All that.
