There are certain things in life that we don’t get emotional about right? No one is emotionally involved over their choice of mortgage are they? We make these decisions coldly, clinically, rationally.
That’s what I’d always thought. It turns out I was completely wrong.
The things we process “rationally” are language and IQ and logic tests.
When we are making a decision about something that effects our lives this decision is always emotional. The work of Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist based at the University of Southern California, on brain injured patients has shown the part emotions play.
In better words than mine
“Damasio’s group is probably best known for their case studies of reasoning in people with neurological damage to their emotional systems. For instance, people with damage to the ventro-medial part of the pre-frontal cortex (VMPFC) may be able to perform to a high level on most language and intelligence tests, but they display gross defects of planning, judgement and social appropriateness. Damasio’s group have shown that these defects in patients with VMPFC damage are caused by their inability to respond emotionally to the content of their thoughts. “
(Full article – http://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/damasioreview.html)
I don’t need my emotions to say that a melon is bigger than an orange. I do need my emotions to decide which one to eat.
All of my decisions about my life, even the ones that should be rational like money and work will be based on my emotions.
