Feeling, Emotion and Reason

I’m known by friends and family as being brutally trusting of my mind. Logic is essential to my decision making process. Unfortunately, people tend to think that this means that I despise emotion. That to feel is my enemy. This … could not be further from the truth. I do not despise emotion — I embrace justified emotion.

Emotion should not be seen as a reason to conclude something true. It should not be seen as the foundation of our thought — it must be seen for what it is — the end result of thought. The reaction to a process, not the decision-making process itself.

Emotion is not concrete. Emotion can be caused by anything. Emotion is not trustworthy. Emotion and feeling tells people to blow up towers. Emotion as a decision-making process tells men to abuse their wives. It tells people to act without justifiable purpose.

Emotion should not be our reason, it should be our response to reason. When we feel, we should feel because it is right to feel — not just because. We should feel strongly for our faith, because that is the role of emotion — it opens the human mind to grasp significance. We should feel strongly about concepts such as justice and grace, because it makes sense to feel those things.

Emotion has its role. I feel incredibly strongly all the time. I often go on walks to be by myself, so I can listen to the birds, see the trees, and simply feel alive. Emotion is wonderful. Because it is wonderful, I refuse to abuse it for destruction. Emotion is wonderful, and it has it’s place. That place is not as a decision-making process.