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Name: AKA
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Changing the World
Buttons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Monday, March 21, 2005
First off, I have to apologize to the people I scared off with my last post. I didn't mean to sound as harsh as I did and maybe it's because I haven't posted in awhile, so a whole long rant came out instead of my usual off-kilter topics - my bad. But it was sorta amusing to mess with minds and see the reaction, but I promise (sort of..) that you won't see that side of me again...unless....[insert evil laugh here]. But now and then it's not such a bad thing to have that side of people come out - makes you seem more human I think.
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So in regards to the title of this post. Yesterday a friend of mine had that as part of her MSN screen name: 'mind vs. heart...who wins?'. And her final tally was Mind: 1, Heart: 5. Now I don't know if she meant whichof the two should win, or which would win, because they are really very seperate things. And it would depend on how pessimisstic or optimistic your nature is, but as optimistic as I can be, I still would have to say that even though many time the heart should win, the mind is what would end up winning.
Face it - people are wannabe-rationalists. We need things to make sense, and despite what the scenario, there's nothing more satisfying then the validation of our actions. It's the reason why we go in search of a second opinion to support our own thoughts and decisions, why we make lists of pros and cons and why despite wanting something we go against our desires and opt for the choice that makes sense. Rational beings we strive to be, but are really not.
Many people would think that it's wrong to deny something we want from the heart, but that's not always the reality. Take for example a man who wants to be an painter (the artist kind), he can create beautiful pieces and gets a tremendous amount of gratification from his work; it's what his heart wants. But the mind seems to work in the other direction. His mind's rationale would tel him that he would not be able to support a family with the income from being an artist, so he chooses to be a banker. His decision does not ill-fate him to be depressed all his life or even resent his decision - he may come to like his career and the life that results from it.
On a smaller scale, we follow our mind when it comes to simple things such as eating. Should I have that caramel brownie with a mocha frappacino from Starbucks today because well let's face it - theyre amazing and I've had a rough day. Or, should I just settle for a regular tea with some non-fat milk and a Splenda to sweeten. Most often than not people would go for the second choice because it's better for you. Though choosing a drink from Starbuck isn't the most life-altering decision, it's still an example of how we choose our mind's decision over our hearts. And in the end it may just be better for you - the brownie/frappacino is loaded with sugar and fat which just isn't good for you compared to the tea and all the health research is there to validate the decision.
The more idealistic and romantic bunch may not agree with all of this. They'll come up with far fetched quotes like "following your heart will lead to eternal happiness" or some other sugar-laden thing like it. And to some degree it is true; you should follow your heart but only if the outcome is realistic. I want to travel during this time off from school and I got a really good opportunity to do some volunteer work in South America. Now my heart says I should go but the reality of it is that it won't happen. Following your heart may not always give you the exact outcome you expected and it may not be the most rational of choices, but there's something more noble and respected about a person who does take the unpaved road.
In the end, I don't know what's best. I don't think you can actually define what is best because it doesn't exist. We should take our hits and misses as they come and use the best of our mind and heart to make our decisions and choose the path, paved or not, that will give us the most contentment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So in regards to the title of this post. Yesterday a friend of mine had that as part of her MSN screen name: 'mind vs. heart...who wins?'. And her final tally was Mind: 1, Heart: 5. Now I don't know if she meant whichof the two should win, or which would win, because they are really very seperate things. And it would depend on how pessimisstic or optimistic your nature is, but as optimistic as I can be, I still would have to say that even though many time the heart should win, the mind is what would end up winning.
Face it - people are wannabe-rationalists. We need things to make sense, and despite what the scenario, there's nothing more satisfying then the validation of our actions. It's the reason why we go in search of a second opinion to support our own thoughts and decisions, why we make lists of pros and cons and why despite wanting something we go against our desires and opt for the choice that makes sense. Rational beings we strive to be, but are really not.
Many people would think that it's wrong to deny something we want from the heart, but that's not always the reality. Take for example a man who wants to be an painter (the artist kind), he can create beautiful pieces and gets a tremendous amount of gratification from his work; it's what his heart wants. But the mind seems to work in the other direction. His mind's rationale would tel him that he would not be able to support a family with the income from being an artist, so he chooses to be a banker. His decision does not ill-fate him to be depressed all his life or even resent his decision - he may come to like his career and the life that results from it.
On a smaller scale, we follow our mind when it comes to simple things such as eating. Should I have that caramel brownie with a mocha frappacino from Starbucks today because well let's face it - theyre amazing and I've had a rough day. Or, should I just settle for a regular tea with some non-fat milk and a Splenda to sweeten. Most often than not people would go for the second choice because it's better for you. Though choosing a drink from Starbuck isn't the most life-altering decision, it's still an example of how we choose our mind's decision over our hearts. And in the end it may just be better for you - the brownie/frappacino is loaded with sugar and fat which just isn't good for you compared to the tea and all the health research is there to validate the decision.
The more idealistic and romantic bunch may not agree with all of this. They'll come up with far fetched quotes like "following your heart will lead to eternal happiness" or some other sugar-laden thing like it. And to some degree it is true; you should follow your heart but only if the outcome is realistic. I want to travel during this time off from school and I got a really good opportunity to do some volunteer work in South America. Now my heart says I should go but the reality of it is that it won't happen. Following your heart may not always give you the exact outcome you expected and it may not be the most rational of choices, but there's something more noble and respected about a person who does take the unpaved road.
In the end, I don't know what's best. I don't think you can actually define what is best because it doesn't exist. We should take our hits and misses as they come and use the best of our mind and heart to make our decisions and choose the path, paved or not, that will give us the most contentment.
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