Monday, February 14, 2011

It's Just Too... Heartless

1. I got a parking spot fast this morning
2. Our furnace is fixed
3. Our computer isn't fixed, but I found time at the school's computer to blog again.

My goodness, I missed Friday, I haven't been keeping up on my comments and I haven't been keeping up on any of your blogs.  Needless to say, my computer is still on the mend and in the shop.

In some ways, it's been nice not having the computer.  I feel a lot happier about my stats here in blog world when I only check them once (it's not, 'hey, only three in the past hour?' it's 'hey, thirty for the day, that's pretty good.')  I also haven't waisted time checking faceook five hundred times.  And, I've found more time for my Xbox, and more importantly, my wife.

So, in my lack of computer, I watched,Robot.  Apart from it just being good, I noticed a line that I'd never given much thought to.  Sunny (the robot), says that Will Smith's character will free the robots from logic.  That line made stop and think, "hey, how can someone be a slave to logic?"  Needless to say, I've been saying 'hey' a lot to myself lately, how do you fix that?  Anyway, I thought about all of my arguments with people about science and religion, and God, and Psychology, and thought about how many people I know (including myself) who are slaves to logic.  We only deal in our five 'senses' and anything out of that realm cannot possibly have merit.

I'd like to submit to the blogging community that we all have a sixth sense called 'emotion.'  I know, this is revolutionary, and spits in the face of so many establishments, but I think emotion is a real way for us to distinguish truth from fiction.  I believe they were originally supposed to be seen this way.  Why else would we call them 'feelings?' 

Some will argue that emotions are too easily tricked, that they are not a reliable source of information.  Have you ever thought you heard someone say something, but they said something totally different... Basset Hound! (Madagascar II reference anyone?).  Also, have you ever played the "Feel this gross stuff through the sheet at Halloween" game?  Why does cooked spaghetti make you think of brains?  Have you ever seen the mind teasing pictures that have old women, young women, vases, and kissing people?  Have you tasted Jelly Bellies that taste like popcorn, but are jelly beans?  I'd argue that our five senses are just as susceptible to trickery as our emotions.

If something makes you sick to your stomach, it's probably wrong.  If something makes you sad, it's something you don't like.  If something makes you laugh, that thing is probably funny.  Part of the issue, is that we've been told for so long to disregard our feelings.  We've been told that they are not 'reliable' by so many 'brilliant' people.  We have to get good at understanding our emotions, just the same as we have to get good at hearing, or tasting, or smelling, or whatever.  We just need to use our feelings in association with the rest of our senses, the same way we know the spaghetti is not brains because we look at it.

In the end of the movie, the evil computer asks Sunny if he does not see the logic behind enslaving the humans for their own protection, and Sunny answers "Yes, but your plan is just too... heartless."  Just something to think about.

Have a nice day.

9 comments:

  1. I didn't know you spent that much time on facebook. You must be like me... just read but don't post that much.

    I needed to read this today. I get so tripped up on what I "feel" and what I'm really feeling. I seem to have a constant disconnect between my head and my heart, if you will.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Asimov really had a way with his storytelling, didn't he?

    I'm constantly reminding myself to trust my emotions from time to time & not rely so heavily on logic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you have heat!
    We are going tech free for a week in March!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It took me years to begin trusting what I would call my instincts. Good on ya.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd like to think that I trust my emotions or feelings more. It's all very well for people to rely on what they can see and hear and touch, but if it just dosent "feel" right, then we need to rethink our decisions. I think people are too ready to push aside that "Gut feeling" for the easy way out.

    "Don't slow down! Kill us! It's the only way! Basset Hound!"

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha, I do that thing where I check my blog stats all the time too. I wish I could be a little less addicted to my computer. It's one of my favorite things about the vacation I take every year = absolutely no electronics.

    I agree that if something doesn't feel right then it's probably wrong for you. All too often in my experience though, just because something feels right, doesn't necessarily mean it's good for me. And when it comes to things involving other people it can be incredibly complicated because what feels right for you, might not feel right for someone else. However, I think that's where communication comes in and is so important.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Paulsifer, insightful post on examining emotions and how we disregard them. Asimov, as other scifi writers explored what makes us human. To Teilhard de Chardin the ultimate human emotion was empathy.

    BTW, they did research on student's feelings who were on facebook. Outcome: made them feel depressed!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Amanda
    Yeah, I don't post much. There does seem to be a disconnect for a lot of people. I think it can be bridged though.

    @Vinny
    i,Robot is really all I know of Asimov. I do like it a lot though.

    @Missy
    That sounds great. I really wanted to join the Peace Corps for a long time just so I could get away from everything.

    @dbs
    Thanks. I still don't trust mine as much as I'd like, but I'm trying.

    @Sprite
    I agree completely. The 'gut feeling' is often more accurate than logic.

    @Haven
    That vacation sounds awesome...

    You make a good point. I think our emotions should be kept in check with our other senses, just the way our other senses keep each other in check, and part of that is having our different senses communicate with each other, and us communicating with other people.

    @AC
    I've heard both sides of research like that, but I believe us not having actual, face to face interaction will lead to our downfall.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The heart has reasons that reason will never know

    ReplyDelete