Truth vs. Emotion

By: Bastiatarian

Emotions can be enjoyable passengers at times, but they are horrible drivers, pointing the front of the car toward the edge of the cliff almost immediately and stomping on the gas pedal. On those extremely rare occasions on which they do get us to our desired location, it is merely by luck.

Emotions are not tools of cognition. Because emotions are merely responses to stimuli that have been filtered through our perceptions, values, and philosophies, they do not tell us anything about the reality around us. The only thing that emotions tell us is how we feel. I may be sitting in a chair in the woods, relaxing and feeling safe, completely unaware that a large bear is behind me, ready to rip my head from my neck. On the other hand, I may hear something crashing through the woods, interpret it as a bear coming for me, and feel fear, when in reality it's just clumsy Cousin Billy traipsing back from the latrine. My emotions tell me nothing about reality.

The race card has never been played as frequently and shamelessly as it is being played right now. The first "post-racial" president has proven himself from the start to be, in reality, the most racial president in American history. "Racist!" has almost always been a line to be blurted out when the speaker gets painted into a logical corner and has no real argument to present. There is likely no assertion more intellectually slothful than "Racist!" Recently, leftists, "liberals," and other totalitarian collectivists don't even wait until they're in that corner, but rather lead with it.

One reason they do this is because they never have a rational foundation for any part of their ideology. Frustration toward having to battle against reality results in the explosion of "Racist!" Not having a foundation of truth, they are left with their emotions.

Another reason that such individuals descend to such brainlessness is the same reason that they are so passionately involved with pushing forward whatever happens to be the revolution du jour. On a superficial level, being outraged about imagined racism, or imagined global warming (or cooling, or changing, or whichever way it's being spun today), or imagined sexism, or imagined anything at all that can give the illusion of inequality or something else people don't like, is much more emotionally satisfying than acknowledging that a fellow didn't get a job because he's just not very good at it, or that there have always been cycles of rising and dropping temperatures, or that nobody really wants to watch the WNBA, or that everybody is different and results will never be the same. Scandals and conflict and socials causes are much more exciting than living and working quietly and steadily each day.

Truth is only satisfying to those who love truth, and to them it is the most delicious feast imaginable. Truth can be painful, but only if we're not living our lives in accordance with it. If truth hurts, we've just gotten a very good reminder that we need to make some changes in our lives.

Barack Obama, an incompetent fop with no meaningful experience, no understanding of good government, or economics, or warfare, no wisdom, and no love of liberty, was elected President of the United States not because people examined him, his abilities, and his platform, thought carefully about it, and decided that he would be the best person for the job. Barack Obama, an effete poseur who should never be in charge of anything, ever, was elected because millions of people made the emotionally satisfying choice: "Oh, look! We have our first black president! Aren't we special now! I feel all warm and fuzzy inside...Wait...What happened to all my money? And why can't I get a job? Where'd all the doctors go? Why are all those vans full of dangerous looking fellows driving across the border? Oh, well, we've got our first black president! I must be a good person for voting for him!"

Only a fool makes decisions, at least important decisions, based on emotion.

Richard G. Scott has observed that "truth is the only meaningful foundation upon which we can make wise decisions." It can be difficult, of course. He continues:

[H]ow then can one establish what is really true? Increasingly more people are finding that making wise decisions is becoming more and more difficult because of the ultra-interconnected world in which we live. Constantly forced into our consciousness is an incessant barrage of counsel, advice, and promotions. It is done by a bewildering array of media, Internet, and other means. On a given subject we can receive multiple strongly delivered, carefully crafted messages with solutions. But often two of the solutions can be diametrically opposed. No wonder some are confused and are not sure how to make the right decisions.
To further complicate matters, others try to persuade us that our decisions must be socially acceptable and politically correct. Some pondering of that approach will reveal how wrong it is.

Finding, understanding, and implementing the truth takes work, much more work than letting our emotions determine what we do our say. Truth will always win in a battle with emotions, and emotion-driven individuals and organizations know that. Whether race-baiters or other "liberal" types, the effort is always directed toward an emotional response and to overload us on meaningless data rather than knowledge that leads to wisdom. It is vital that we not allow ourselves to get drawn into that trap.

We have to combat the empty emotion of the enemy with truth. That means that we have to spend time finding and understanding truth, judiciously sifting through sources. We need to spend time each day reading and thinking and writing in an effort to make truth clear to ourselves and to others. We need to fill our minds with the words and ideas of the best books and the best thinkers that have lived on this earth. Although we who support the principles of liberty have the significant advantage of truth, it is a useless weapon if we do not understand it, just as a gun is ineffective (and could be twisted around and turned against us) if we are not familiar with it and its proper use. To stand with the integrity I discussed in a previous post, we must understand truth and live it, regardless of how we feel.

Never forget: When the emotions come on, the intellect turns off.

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