The importance of controlling emotions
Science Daily defines emotions as "a neural impulse that moves an organism into action...". The problem with emotions is that this action may not always be in the organism's best interest. When anger pushes you into a fight or when loves keeps you up all night, emotions are making you do something that you wouldn't have done if you would've been rational.
It's not difficult to find examples when emotions have pushed mankind into doing things they shouldn't have - be it mythology or history. When Paris of Troy ran away with Menelaus' wife, his love diminished his judgment. This was followed by revenge by the Greeks. When USA dropped nuclear bombs on Japan, it was revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbour. In fact, every murder that you will read in the newspaper or watch on your television is an example of a situation when emotions have pushed a person to do what he/she shouldn't have.
Emotions cloud your judgement. They have a way of diminishing the rational thought process. Take love/attraction as an example. It starts by you not paying attention in class/work meetings/family dinner. If successful, it leads to a relationship. Once there, love pushes you to change your ways. It makes you feel needed and also manifests a need for the other person in you. It makes you give up on your flexibility, independence and individuality - on your own.
This is followed by two possibilities. The first one is the break up in which the same emotion turns you into a crying and sad heap of mess. Sadness, a new emotion, enters your life to mess up with your rational thinking process. You consume liquor/ice cream in amounts that you're smart enough to consider unhealthy and annoy your friends (on the phone or in person) who stop giving a f**k after 15 minutes of your ranting. The other option is that you end up getting married to this person - an act so irrational that I probably shouldn't even explain it. Love makes you accept a lifetime of misery in the form of monogamy, annoying kids and monetary expenses - things that you rarely derive the expected utility from.
The unfortunate part is that it is one of the few things that make us human. We are nothing without our emotions. We wouldn't be 7 billion and counting without love. We wouldn't cry when we saw that romantic comedy. We wouldn't wage wars over our gods and sitting in class/meeting surely wouldn't be tolerable if it weren't for the beautiful thoughts of that person. Hence, emotions are a necessary evil.
Since emotions are here to stay, I believe it is best to keep them in check. You can't get rid of them. You can't always win against them either. You will get your judgment clouded by them from time to time. The best thing you can do is to make sure that you keep them in check and make sure that the damage that they do to you is less than the gains that they bring. Before every major step in your life, spend some time to introspect. Determine how much of your decision is being influenced by emotions and how much by rationality. This will help you make better decisions. It will stop you from buying expensive shoes that you're only going to wear once. It will teach you to walk away when your fist is itching to land a punch. Most importantly, it will teach you to let go instead of falling deeper when the rational part of you tells you that it is not going to work out with the person you have a thing for...
It's not difficult to find examples when emotions have pushed mankind into doing things they shouldn't have - be it mythology or history. When Paris of Troy ran away with Menelaus' wife, his love diminished his judgment. This was followed by revenge by the Greeks. When USA dropped nuclear bombs on Japan, it was revenge for the attack on Pearl Harbour. In fact, every murder that you will read in the newspaper or watch on your television is an example of a situation when emotions have pushed a person to do what he/she shouldn't have.
Emotions cloud your judgement. They have a way of diminishing the rational thought process. Take love/attraction as an example. It starts by you not paying attention in class/work meetings/family dinner. If successful, it leads to a relationship. Once there, love pushes you to change your ways. It makes you feel needed and also manifests a need for the other person in you. It makes you give up on your flexibility, independence and individuality - on your own.
This is followed by two possibilities. The first one is the break up in which the same emotion turns you into a crying and sad heap of mess. Sadness, a new emotion, enters your life to mess up with your rational thinking process. You consume liquor/ice cream in amounts that you're smart enough to consider unhealthy and annoy your friends (on the phone or in person) who stop giving a f**k after 15 minutes of your ranting. The other option is that you end up getting married to this person - an act so irrational that I probably shouldn't even explain it. Love makes you accept a lifetime of misery in the form of monogamy, annoying kids and monetary expenses - things that you rarely derive the expected utility from.
The unfortunate part is that it is one of the few things that make us human. We are nothing without our emotions. We wouldn't be 7 billion and counting without love. We wouldn't cry when we saw that romantic comedy. We wouldn't wage wars over our gods and sitting in class/meeting surely wouldn't be tolerable if it weren't for the beautiful thoughts of that person. Hence, emotions are a necessary evil.
Since emotions are here to stay, I believe it is best to keep them in check. You can't get rid of them. You can't always win against them either. You will get your judgment clouded by them from time to time. The best thing you can do is to make sure that you keep them in check and make sure that the damage that they do to you is less than the gains that they bring. Before every major step in your life, spend some time to introspect. Determine how much of your decision is being influenced by emotions and how much by rationality. This will help you make better decisions. It will stop you from buying expensive shoes that you're only going to wear once. It will teach you to walk away when your fist is itching to land a punch. Most importantly, it will teach you to let go instead of falling deeper when the rational part of you tells you that it is not going to work out with the person you have a thing for...
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