NationStates Jolt Archive

From my point of veiw, one of humanity's greatest flaw is that they mix emotions with they're logic or confuse the two. Failing to realize that ANY and ALL emotions and instincts cloud better judgement. Yet, this is considered normal. When people come into contact with me they look at my eyes and I know what they see; cold, harsh, compassionless eyes. Eyes that seem to peer into they're very souls. They wonder how a human being can be so cold. And how I seem to be immune to flirting from EITHER gender. I just don't concern myself with sexual matters; those things lead to violent, irrational, erratic behavior that gets NOTHING productive or worthwhile done, except if they are married and trying to conceive a child and nothing more. I'll take this oppurtunity to say a bit of blasphemy; THERE ARE THINGS BETTER THAN SEX!!!! I won't give the long list of things and bore you, but, what I say is true. Yes, I am very asexual; don't concern myself with such things. I removed those instincts and impulses and to make room for other things; just prioritizing you know! I can't wait to see the responses to THIS one.

You're not vulcan are you?

If you wish to completely supress emotion in favor of logic, then that is, of course, your choice to make.

My opinion, though, is that logic and emotion should be balanced. While I agree that confusing the two is bad, I disagree that mixing the two is also bad. Without emotion, what is the value of life? If you do not enjoy life and what you do within it, then what purpose does life serve?

You speak of productivity, but if productivity is our only worthwhile consideration, then our actions in life are reduced to mere survival and perpetuation of the species. What, then separates us from the wild animals and the creatures of the sea? The fact that we use tools? I will not go so far as to say that if life were completely without emotion, then life would not be worth living. However, I will go so far as to say that I would think it far duller and less worthwhile than a life where logic and emotion are balanced.

You speak of "violent, erratic, and irrational behavior". Emotions do tend to be erratic and irrational, but these are not necessarily bad. Violence ought, of course, to be avoided and emotion cannot go unregulated. Just as I believe logic without emotion to be an undesirable state-of-being, so too is emotion without logic. Again, I advocate balance.

To paraphrase the Holy Bible (and forgive me as I do not remember the applicable book, chapter, and verse), what benefit do you gain from any of your accomplishments if you do not have love?

Maybe I misinterpreted your post? Perhaps you only mean to exclude enjoyment of sex, but not enjoyment of any other pleasures? If so, then I can understand why you would want to target sex, specifically; sexuality is a strong component of the human psyche and the most prone to generating the strongest of emotional influences and impulses, including the "violent, erratic, and irrational behavior" of which you spoke. Again, though, I would advocate balance. The emotions associated with sex must be regulated, just as all emotions must be regulated. However, to completely deny the emotions associated with sex is, I feel, to deny an important part of oneself.

Again, these is addtional potential for me to have misinterpreted your post: You speak of priorities and you speak of "things better than sex". Of course, no human being could ever hope to live long enough to experience everything in the world, our lives are so short and each of us must prioritize. If you have denied yourself of matters of sex and intimacy because you feel that there are other things that add more of a positive benefit to your life (however "positive" might eb defined), then I have little argument with your philosophy. If, however, you have denied yourself such matters because of the negatives associated with them, then I have to question the wisdom of your decision. Proper regulation of emotion can yeild benefits that you may find desirable while mitigating the negatives that you point out.

The very name of my nation, Cogitation, is associated with thought. This includes both the logical and the emotional sides of thought. It is a name that I chose with care.

Look into my eyes and you will see a person who seeks to enjoy life. Under various circumstances, you will also see love, passion, compassion, and sympathy. Under other circumstances, you will also see anger and hatred, but you will also see restraint. All of this belies the logic that I apply to keep emotion in check and under control... when it is appropriate and necessary to do so.

"Think about it for a moment."

--The Democratic States of Cogitation
Founder of The Realm of Ambrosia

You're not emotionless, though you might pretend to be. Without emotions, there are no such things as preferences whatsoever; there would be no reason to do anything at all, including posting to a NS forum. You have to be motivated by something, and pure logic alone can provide no motivations.

He could be posting out of boredom; that's not an emotion, that's a state of mind.

Waaay to much stuff for me to read :?

Waaay to much stuff for me to read :?

Sorry. :oops:

--The Democratic States of Cogitation

^BUMP^

I would be interested in hearing counter-replies from anyone.

--The Democratic States of Cogitation

From my point of veiw, one of humanity's greatest flaw is that they mix emotions with they're logic or confuse the two. Failing to realize that ANY and ALL emotions and instincts cloud better judgement. Yet, this is considered normal. When people come into contact with me they look at my eyes and I know what they see; cold, harsh, compassionless eyes. Eyes that seem to peer into they're very souls. They wonder how a human being can be so cold. And how I seem to be immune to flirting from EITHER gender. I just don't concern myself with sexual matters; those things lead to violent, irrational, erratic behavior that gets NOTHING productive or worthwhile done, except if they are married and trying to conceive a child and nothing more. I'll take this oppurtunity to say a bit of blasphemy; THERE ARE THINGS BETTER THAN SEX!!!! I won't give the long list of things and bore you, but, what I say is true. Yes, I am very asexual; don't concern myself with such things. I removed those instincts and impulses and to make room for other things; just prioritizing you know! I can't wait to see the responses to THIS one.

I used to be like that. Oh, how I disdain that time in my life.

Good show Cog. You stole my thunder! :wink:

The decision to chose logic over emotion is itself an emotional one.

A challenge to you: present me with a purely logical argument which shows that logic is better than emotion, and should be chosen in its place.

The decision to chose logic over emotion is itself an emotional one.

Essentially it comes down to a personal preference. My personal preference dictates my choice of belief system. My belief system influences my culture. My culture largely dictates my preferences(despite my best efforts).

It is a nice little convoluted cycle.

From my point of veiw, one of humanity's greatest flaw is that they mix emotions with they're logic or confuse the two. Failing to realize that ANY and ALL emotions and instincts cloud better judgement. Yet, this is considered normal. When people come into contact with me they look at my eyes and I know what they see; cold, harsh, compassionless eyes. Eyes that seem to peer into they're very souls. They wonder how a human being can be so cold. And how I seem to be immune to flirting from EITHER gender. I just don't concern myself with sexual matters; those things lead to violent, irrational, erratic behavior that gets NOTHING productive or worthwhile done, except if they are married and trying to conceive a child and nothing more. I'll take this oppurtunity to say a bit of blasphemy; THERE ARE THINGS BETTER THAN SEX!!!! I won't give the long list of things and bore you, but, what I say is true. Yes, I am very asexual; don't concern myself with such things. I removed those instincts and impulses and to make room for other things; just prioritizing you know! I can't wait to see the responses to THIS one.

If you lived your life logically you'd only do boring "logical" stuff... Then your life would be boring, which it doesn't have to be...And it's not logical to lead a boring life.

And it's not logical to lead a boring life.

Since when was logic alone capable of making value judgements?

From my point of veiw, one of humanity's greatest flaw is that they mix emotions with they're logic or confuse the two. Failing to realize that ANY and ALL emotions and instincts cloud better judgement. Yet, this is considered normal. When people come into contact with me they look at my eyes and I know what they see; cold, harsh, compassionless eyes. Eyes that seem to peer into they're very souls. They wonder how a human being can be so cold. And how I seem to be immune to flirting from EITHER gender. I just don't concern myself with sexual matters; those things lead to violent, irrational, erratic behavior that gets NOTHING productive or worthwhile done, except if they are married and trying to conceive a child and nothing more. I'll take this oppurtunity to say a bit of blasphemy; THERE ARE THINGS BETTER THAN SEX!!!! I won't give the long list of things and bore you, but, what I say is true. Yes, I am very asexual; don't concern myself with such things. I removed those instincts and impulses and to make room for other things; just prioritizing you know! I can't wait to see the responses to THIS one.

There's nothing wrong with your point of view; it's more common than you think. I also grew up in an environment where your own personal gratification was like a grain of dust against the mountainside of obligation, respect, and loyalty. On the other hand, no one had a gun to my head that I should uphold this philosophy, I chose to of my own will. And by no religious impetus, I might add. There's no shame in showing emotion though, even if certain stimulii don't affect you as they affect others, you should be able to express the same range on a different level. If certain diversions don't provoke you, then pursue diversions that do. There's no need to cut yourself off from others who are absorbed in lesser diversions, and it's never healthy to take yourself so seriously as to feel detachment.

And it's not logical to lead a boring life.

Since when was logic alone capable of making value judgements?

Well...it's not logical to me :D

Good show Cog. You stole my thunder! :wink:

Thanks.

And it's not logical to lead a boring life.

Since when was logic alone capable of making value judgements?

One could attempt to choose a set of long-term objectives and then logically determine what is or is not conducive to achieving those objectives. Would this constitute a form of "value judgements"?

Of course, that still leaves the question of how those long-term objectives are chosen.

I shouldn't try to think philosophically just before going to bed. :lol:

--The Democratic States of Cogitation
"Think about it for a moment."
Founder of The Realm of Ambrosia

And it's not logical to lead a boring life.

Since when was logic alone capable of making value judgements?

One could attempt to choose a set of long-term objectives and then logically determine what is or is not conducive to achieving those objectives. Would this constitute a form of "value judgements"?

Not ethical or moral ones, no.

At best it can produce a set of instructions of the form "If you want X, then doing Y will maximize the possibility of you achieving it", but it is silent as to what X should be. Logic deals only with what is, or more properly, what is assumed to be, and cannot tell us what ought to be, unless we input an 'ought' into the logical operation.


cf. Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus:
"7. What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence."

(It should be noted that I do not consider the revelation of truth values within a logic operation to qualify as 'value judgements': if nothing else, they are not judgements, but attributes inherent in a particular logical formulation.)

Of course, that still leaves the question of how those long-term objectives are chosen.

My point exactly.

Logic shows us how arguments are structured, and the relations between statements, but is itself deaf to their content. It can guide us only with respect to the form of the initial statements, but not their content.