The mind, heart and peace

[Paragon]

An unedited sketch that I hope would give you an idea of my refusal of over relying on rational faculties - I pray for your patience may you find some mistakes in the post.

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[edit]For Viking and Elysian

 

Any law that is found in conflict or incompatible with the judgment of the heart should not be applied to the affairs of man. The heart is not only the king ruler over all other organs of the body, but it is also the ruler over all things living and breathing, which are still in existence. As such, this truth about the heart remains absolute and irrefutable by any other argument. The supremacy of the heart can only be refuted by the existential threat of death itself, which renders it dysfunctional. All other threats merely bruise it. With that hypothesis put in place, I will go forward to other matters related to the preference of the mind over the heart, which usually gives the impression that on the course of making effective decisions, the heart less desirable to the brain.

 

However, before I proceed, an explanation about the state of the heart, as I understand it, is due here. Firstly, it is a biological fact that the heart is an organ of the body, which makes possible life itself. Secondly, the heart permanently remains between two states: (a) in virtue or (b) in vice. Thus, any good found in the heart is in compliance with virtue, and applying such goodness to the affairs of man becomes a law of the best kind. Likewise, any bad found in the heart is in compliance with the state of vice, and good laws are put in place to restrict or minimize the application of vice to mankind. While the heart remains between these states, the brain cannot be said of the same. The brain is command taker and like a sentry soldier that awaits orders from either the good or the bad part of the heart. Thus the hearts holds superiority over the brain.

 

Misfortune, therefore, is with those who have reasoned that the brain can singularly function to set rights and correct wrongs. Man has for many millennia remained heartless and continues to be in such a state. He has known nothing else except suffering and unending wars. His total trust of the brain, naturally a sentry soldier, has become the seed of chaos. As is the case with all beings in sentry, suspicion and vigilance is almost a permanent state; misjudgment or sensual misinterpretation of information and events can result devastating reactions.

 

With only one being at sentry, it is easy to perceive him/her as an exception to the norm, but when all human beings become sentry, the potential for devastation is great. This potential to react negatively poses the danger of total annihilation of all things existing, as sentry minds and sentry fingers unleash the force of destructive technology. Thus all efforts must be made to avert destruction. One way of averting danger is to refocus humanity from the state of sentry and distrust of the brain and to reliance on the heart that distinguishes the flames of suspicion. As important as the cognitive faculties of the mind are, they are not wise enough to feel at home with peace. This is to imply that it is feelings and not intellect that grasp the positive aspects of peace. As such, the only organ in the body to feel peace is only the heart.

 

The failure to resort to the counsel of the heart thus has the consequence of making the earth a playground for exclusivist ideas. This means that each group of humans, under the pretext of self-interest and safety from threat would engage other groups in hostile manner. In return, this only exacerbates the presumption of threat, which makes pre-emptive actions imminent. The brain may be capable to reason but it hasn’t been known to feel, it perceives senses and images. The collection of these senses, such as thinking, or ‘reasoning’ all lead to one thing; conflict. It is therefore safe to claim that rationality eminating from the mind, far from soliciting peaceful co-existence of all the planet's creations, creates one disaster after other and may result in Armageddon. Thus, we must abandon it or, if that is not possible, reduce the priority we give to the brain.

 

Are you a mind or a heart person?

[Cara.]

Paragon,

 

Thus the hearts holds superiority over the brain.

The heart is a fist-sized organ that pumps blood. It's not the seat of morality or emotion.

[Elysian]

Paragon, interesting metaphor for reason vs. emotion. If I understood you right and if I may simplify your argument with the equation less brain (reasoning) + more heart (emotions) equals less inhumane world

 

I think in order to obtain a better society we definitely need less egotism and more sympathy. However I’m not convinced about your argument mainly for two reasons.

 

First, I can’t really remember any historical event that occurred solely on the basis of reasoning. Any war, conflict, atrocity etc. that I know of has mobilised the masses by appealing to their “hearts” in order to commit horrible acts. These historical facts would in contrary to your hypothesis suggest less “heart” and more “brain” equals good society.

 

Secondly, using heart and brain as metaphors for emotion vs. reason over-simplifies in this case a very complex relation. By assigning one attribute to one organ misleadingly suggest one can easily separate one from the other. In some cases you can, i.e. logic thinking, for instance regardless of your emotional state you’ll always find 1+1=2. However when faced with questions such as how to run a society, human relations etc. there are no given answers simply because “reasoning” to obtain an answer will always be affected by “emotions” and to what degree one or the other has affected the outcome is impossible to assess.

[Socod_badne]

Originally posted by Elysian:

However when faced with questions such as how to run a society, human relations etc. there are no given answers simply because “reasoning” to obtain an answer will always be affected by “emotions” and to what degree one or the other has affected the outcome is impossible to assess.

Maybe reasoning that appears to be affected by emotions is just poor reasoning or all emotions and no reasoning at all. Reason, unlike mere thinking, always entails stringing together a chain of premises that can lend support to particular conclusion. It is a purposeful, calculated, carefully weighed process. Very unlike the capricious nature of our emotional states.