Irrationality – Mastery of the Emotional Self August 9, 2023 by Riston Humans are often referred to as the “rational animal”, but often as individuals, and especially in groups, we tend to act based on completely irrational ideas. Absent a real sense of self-reflexivity and exacting honesty, we are prone to indulge completely irrational impulses based not on a clear understanding of objective reality, but instead on personal prejudice and faulty, unexamined information. Our emotions are a powerful force in our lives that should not be repressed or completely discounted, but they are extremely fallible and often excited by perceptive stimuli which are shaded by conditioning or previously adopted faulty interpretations of events. Humans have through evolution traded the reliable instincts naturally enjoyed by other animals for the capacity to exercise the primary virtues of reason: understanding, judgement, and reasoning. The problem with this trade off in our current state is that these higher faculties of mind require some degree of training, and individuals and populations who lack the requisite training to properly exercise these faculties breeds a plethora of problems in terms of decision making. The problem becomes a catch-22: our instincts or often unreliable and sometimes shaded by prejudice and the belief that we are acting reasonably, which in turn augments the illusions that we are making rational choices. Many are caught in a no-man’s land of bias and fallacy, and have both the faculties of mind and the innate senses are clashing to generate faulty decisions that are built on the mental equivalents of cross-talk and phase cancellation. The good news is that these problems and biases can be mitigated through the application of self-awareness, self-reflection, and an earnest quest for greater understanding and truly accepting the fact that one is fallible and thus may be wrong. One’s perceptions are distorted not only by childhood and past prejudices instilled by culture, but also in the present by cultural agents such as government and media (propaganda). Here are strategies that can aid us in mitigating our irrationality: Step one is to become aware of the biases present in ourselves and others. They are almost always distorted by the pleasure principle, a natural predisposition for humans, and below are a few of the most common varieties of cognitive bias: Confirmation Bias – facilitates the illusion of acting rationally, when that isn’t the case. Conviction Bias – the idea that believing in something enough can make it true. Appearance Bias – the belief that we can take people and things at face value. Group Bias – the proclivity to unknowingly believe that all our ideas are arrived at on our own. Blame Bias – we like to believe we learn from our mistakes, but often point the finger. Superiority Bias – our tendency to think we are better in character to everyone else. Step two is to become aware of inflaming factors. What are situations and triggers that spark you to make irrational decisions? A few such factors are: Trigger points from Childhood – Abandonment is a common feature here. Many of these issues tend to revolve around distant or narcissistic parents who imprint negative emotional patterns. Sudden Gains or Losses – The highs of gain and the depression of lows can serve as a roller coaster effect on the emotions, and subsequently decision-making. Both scenarios require objectivity in evaluating next-steps. Rising Pressure – when faced with extreme pressure (i.e. a tight work deadline), we are at risk of making rash or rushed decisions. Again a degree of detached objectivity is what’s required here. Inflaming Individuals – There are just certain people who get under our skin, who tend to always throw us off balance. Try to maintain distance, and de-mythologize their persona/facade. The Group Effect – emotional states tend to be amplified in crowds which facilitate an ephemeral, motive effect on its members (often referred to as ‘egregores’ in occult circles). Sometimes these entities can be useful, to a point, but never allow oneself to get so swept up in these emotional states that you relinquish your humanity, your reasoning powers and moral compass to groupthink and egregores. Step three is to engage in strategies that encourage the reasoning powers: Know thyself – This injunction was inscribed at the temple of Apollo in Delphi. This maxim can be interpreted and applied in many ways, but most important to the context of this writing it means to constantly evaluate one’s prejudices, impulses, and motivations in how they may shade one’s perceptions of the world, and therefore influence one’s decisions. While there are deterministic factors that are key ingredients of what makes us who we are, we have the capacity to play an active role in creating our future selves through altering our actions, beliefs, and perceptions. Self-forming action can only occur when we engage in brutal honesty with ourselves about our motivations and conditioned perceptions. Examine your emotions to their roots – continuing from the above maxim to “know thyself”, we should not allow our emotions to govern our decisions without first taking into account the origin and nature of these emotions. Are we making a rash decision based soley on emotions triggered by some previous trauma? The amygdala and limbic system serve valuable functions, but these cognitive pathways can become distorted through trauma (PTSD is an extreme example). We should not cut ourselves off from emotions, which do often hold innate wisdom, but we do need to do our best to take a moment to reflect on their origin so that we aren’t giving the past undue influence on our decision-making. Increase your reaction time – Most poor choices are often rushed decisions. Generally speaking a moment of reflection can save us from years of grief. Every effort should be made to increase reaction time to a capacity which allows for a modicum of self-reflection. Operating on knee jerk assumptions and automated, reflexive responses will inevitably increase the degree of chaos in our lives. Accept people as facts – People are ends, not means. Each person also has their own sets of biases, conditions, and values that make them unique, their own motives and ambitions. Being a bit more understanding of people can help to make the best decisions when dealing with others. Find the optimal balance of thinking and emotions – referenced in point two above, we shouldn’t try to completely divorce our emotions and thoughts, but ultimately we do need to rely on the “regulator” to ensure we’re neither operating purely on cold logic or emotional impulse. Love the Rational – Again, far from “Mr. Spock” stereotypes of the cold, isolated logical mindset that most in modern times equate with “rationality”, the rational is what maintains real order in the world. It is what enables us to exercise both judgement and discernment in matters ranging from art to human relations to philosophic and scientific inquiry. It is the basis of true social harmony, morality, and understanding. “Trust your feelings!”- but feelings are nothing final or original; behind feelings there stand judgements and evaluations which we inherit in the form of … inclinations, aversions… The inspiration born of a feeling is the grandchild of a judgement-and often a false judgement! – and in any event not a child of your own! To trust one’s feelings- means to give more obedience to one’s grandfather and grandmother and their grandparents than to the gods that are in us: our reason and our experience.Friedrich Nietzsche
