Logic or instinct/emotion? Or both?

[OdaySomali]

Logic and reason, or instinct and emotions?

 

I was watching this fascinating t.v programme that led me to ponder the following question:

 

Do you tend to follow logic and reason, or are you guided by instinct and emotions? And which is to be trusted.

 

Using logic to make sense of situations and then reasoning to make decisions are a process that we are taught/learn. We learn as children "the cooker is hot, if you touch it you will get burned and it will be painful"... therefore do not touch the hot cooker. That sort of thought process is then adapted and applied to other situations to make decisions.

 

But then there is no doubt we have an inner instinct and "emotions". Emotions are real biological reactions/activities within our brains that we "feel" but do not necessarily identify/suggest a direct course of action.

 

Having said all the above, is it even possible to sufficiently seperate and distinguish logic from emotion? Are they not both activities of the brain?

[Ms MoOns]

They say men see things more logically and women tend to mix logic with emotions.

Personally, I disagree with that. It's all about individual differences. It depends on the individual what side of the brain hemisphere is easily more triggered.

 

Men react emotional as well, just not in the same sense as women. Men tend to express themselves with for example anger/aggression. That's an emotion as well, you know.

[5]

Instinct, absolutely. Today I unfortunately had to fire someone for the first time in my life. I blame it on not following my instinct a few weeks back when I first met her and she came on board. I deliberately overlooked instinct in favour of logic (the person having over 20 years of experience) only to now later understand and appreciate the importance of gut feeling. If you ain't feeling it, you shouldn't be doing it. No matter what 'logic' tells you. At least, that's what I think.

[5]

Of course speculation is different and often wrong. Instinct is that thing that tells you "do not take this road" even though that might be the road you take every day. There's countless of stories how people's lives have been saved by this single indefinable and indescribable feeling. I'm sure you've experienced it too at some point. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, you better listen!

[Wadani]

5, what made u fire her?

[Nin-Yaaban]

5;896416 wrote:

Instinct, absolutely. Today I unfortunately had to fire someone for the first time in my life. I blame it on not following my instinct a few weeks back when I first met her and she came on board. I deliberately overlooked instinct in favour of logic (the person having over 20 years of experience) only to now later understand and appreciate the importance of gut feeling. If you ain't feeling it, you shouldn't be doing it. No matter what 'logic' tells you. At least, that's what I think.

Well good for you Abayadiis. I am glad McDonalds is finally doing something about lazy cashiers. Markasto aan meeshaas tago, they mess up my order. I am glad you are on top of that. Hi5?

[Nin-Yaaban]

Wadani;896453 wrote:

5, what made u fire her?

LoL it's McDonalds dude, i dont think they'd need a reason to fire you. That poor masakiin Mexican lady could just walk over to the next McD's, BK, or just about any other fast food joint and get another job. I bet 5 is real proud though.

[5]

HAHAHA @ Nin Yaaban!! I'm amused, but also very mad at you for you blowing my cover like that!

 

Wadani, I'm in a line of work where youth brings you no edge or advantage whatsoever, it's reversal age discrimination. Lack of respect, incapability to take directions and poor quality of work were the reasons why I had to let her go. I also made a mental note to only work with young talented people from now on, as nearly every single older person has had some level of difficulty with taking orders. It could also be that they are so used to doing things their way, that it's very hard for them to try something new.

 

So off to the next McD she went!

 

Apophis, instinct doesn't make planes fly, but betcha it gave birth to the idea! Instinct is that strange feeling of certainty that tells you you need to try this or you need to do this, when you have no idea why. You just have to. And something good comes out of it.

[5]

Also, instinct doesn't occur too often so there's no real way of testing it. When it does, it's always right. Always. I've never heard of someone saying "I should've never followed my instinct!" I have heard of people wishing they had though Maantaana ugu dambeesay.

[5]

One of my all-time favourite geniuses is Nikola Tesla. I especially love the story about how he came up with the solution to the rotating magnetic field. In his own account he said that before coming up with the solution he couldn't visualize just exactly how to do it, but that he felt he was approaching a solution. Then one day as Tesla was walking with a friend through the park, the solution flashed through his mind. Quite literally. This is in his own account:

 

"Just as the sun was setting I felt wonderfully inspired, and the idea came to me like a flash, and I saw the whole thing clearly, I saw my generator, I saw the motor, and saw the connections, saw it work, in my mind, and I took a stick and drew on the sand the diagrams which were drawn in my paper before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and which were illustrated in my plans as clearly as possible, and from that time I carried this image in my mind." (Upon receiving Edison Medal from Electrical Review & Western Electrician, May 26th 1917)

 

Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. Logic sometimes limits you.

 

And because I like Tesla so much, I'm going to throw in a Tesla quote in which he is pretty much talking about cell phones, iPod/iPads, Cintiqs etc: " An inexpensive instrument, not bigger than a watch, will enable its bearer to hear anywhere, on sea or land, music or song, the speech of a political leader, the address of an eminent man of science, or the sermon of an eloquent clergyman, delivered in some other place, however distant. In the same manner any picture, character, drawing, or print can be transferred from one to another place." (Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony 1908)

 

Our knowledge of the universe and what is possible and what isn't is limited, and because logic is very much tied to knowledge, our sense of what is logical and isn't, will keep expanding.

[Chimera]

I'm guided by principles which can be boosted or heavily challenged by both logic and emotion.

 

This is some next level talk, very confusing. I can't really pin-point a situation where I used my instinct, the only thing I feel in my gut on a cyclical basis is GAAJO!

 

In-fact does instinct even exist? Is it just a glorified emotion or a recurring pattern of logical thinking?

[OdaySomali]

Chimera;896500 wrote:

 

In-fact does instinct even exist? Is it just a glorified emotion or a recurring pattern of logical thinking?

I think it does exist although its difficult to pinpiont. Take the example of when you can "feel" that youve forgotten something but cannot pinpoint what, or that something is the wrong decision or that someone is not telling the whole truth. Perhaps it is the subconscious parts of the mind analysing information more and sending signals to the conscious parts. But emotions, instinct or "feelings" are caused by brain activity, perhaps more spontanious than structured thought, so maybe its some part of our brain trying to tell us something that we have overlooked.

 

Complicated stuff, I wonder if Coofle knows much about Neuroscience.

[Coofle]

OdaySomali;896513 wrote:

Complicated stuff, I wonder if Coofle knows much about Neuroscience.

OdaySomali I have took Many neuroscience courses in university as they were mandatory and usually I grabbed a pathetic C..... Isku soo wada xoori, Even neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroscience specialists will agree that neurophysiology is the least understood aspect of the human body, to this day neurosurgical interventions have the highest rate of both unexplained and explained complications, once you read into medications you will find out most of them are discovered by mere accidents and the Mechanism of action of medications are mere hypothesis thus they are changed every 5 years.

Neuropsycology is the philosophy of medicine. a scientific mind beliefs in evidence based medicine in in neuropsychology its all hypothesis and theories.

 

instinct probably comes from a previous experience that is saved in our subconscious mind ...... I think I read something like that in clinical psychology textbook, after all was not smart at this subject, Ilaahaw i dhaafi ayuun bay iga ahayd.

[Reeyo]

Caafle I think I follow what you mean by 'Instinct probably comes from a previous experience that is saved by our subconscious mind'. Simply because I am and always have been a really logical person, emotions and 'instinct' always took a backseat when it come to making decisions. In fact till this day you can find handbooks around where I make notes to weight out my options on everything. I've been tagged the robot many times. Lakin recently, call it age or the collection of many analytical options and life experiences but emotions/instinct have started playing a role in my decision making. As 5 mentioned about having a feeling about someone and basing your actions around that, I do that alot more then let me interview you and give you a probation time to measure your skills.

[Coofle]

Me the same...But Right now I have come to peace with myself.. in all matters that involve Emotions I always go with my guts or instinct, with matters that need objective judgment, I only use my good old cerebral hemisphere.