Posted on 12/18/2018 5:08:10 AM PST by Kaslin
When I talk to young people, I try to offer them what I was offered when I was their age but is rarely offered today: wisdom. I was given wisdom largely because I went to a religious school -- a yeshiva, a traditional Jewish school in which the long day (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) was divided between studying religious subjects (in Hebrew) and secular subjects (in English).
With the increasing secularization of society, less and less wisdom has been conveyed to young people. One particularly obvious example is most secular people, especially on the left, believe human beings are basically good. It is difficult to overstate the foolishness of this belief. And a belief it is: There is no evidence to support it, and there is overwhelming evidence -- like virtually all of human history -- to refute it. Jewish and Christian kids who study the Bible know how morally flawed human nature is by the age of 10.
Another thing I tell young people -- which, if they take seriously, will make them immeasurably wiser, finer, happier and more productive -- is life is a daily battle between the brain and the mind. The brain wants an ice cream sundae; the mind knows too many sundaes will make a person overweight and eventually diabetic. Similarly, the brain (especially that of the male) wants sex with anyone it finds attractive; the mind knows the trouble doing so will likely lead to.
The brain is instinctive and feelings-based; the mind is thoughtful and can be reason-based.
Tragically, since the 1960s, the brain -- i.e. feelings and instincts -- has been valued far more than the mind.
That explains why for 40 years, I have asked high school seniors which they would save first if both were drowning, their dog or a stranger, and only one-third have voted to save the stranger. Their reason? They love their dog, not the stranger. The brain over the mind. Feelings over thought (not to mention transcendent values).
On the most important issue in human life, determining what is right and what is wrong, the brain (feelings) has triumphed over the mind (reason and values). At least two generations of Americans have been raised not with moral instruction but with the question "How do you feel about it?"
Almost every left-right disagreement in American life can be explained by the brain-mind conflict. The brain is led by what feels good, the mind by what does good. And leftist positions feel good.
It feels good to allow anyone who wants to enter America to do so. But if America is worth preserving, the mind understands that the right policy cannot be determined by feelings.
It feels good to keep expanding government so it can provide more and more people with benefits. But the mind recognizes this is a recipe for disaster because people become addicted to benefits, and because the government assumes greater and greater debt it will not be able to repay.
It feels good to lower admissions standards to enable more blacks to enter prestigious colleges. But the mind knows it doesn't help blacks -- on the contrary, it hurts the many of them (as it does students of any ethnicity and race) who are not prepared for the academic demands of prestigious colleges.
One of the oldest and most fundamental Jewish teachings is that every human being has two competing impulses -- the "yetzer ha-tov," the impulse to do good, and the "yetzer ha-ra," the impulse to do bad. When I was a young man, one of the leading rabbis of the last generation, Rabbi Wolfe Kelman, told me something that changed my life. "Dennis," he said, "I have become pretty good at keeping my yetzer ha-ra in check; it's my yetzer ha-tov that gets me into trouble."
Even when propelled to do good, we cannot be guided by feelings.
It's not only the human being that is driven by the conflict between feelings and reason. So is America.
bkmk
BFL
Here’s a different one. I witnessed a serious discussion on “What if we had a genderless society tomorrow, wouldn’t that be great?” Every other voice was “yeah, sure, great”.
I didn’t join in. My first thought was of the Arizona (I think) calligraphers facing a 2500 fine and potential 6 month jail time for refusing to serve homosexual clients. That you are not ALLOWED to disagree with orthodoxy.
Thus saying “men have penises, women have vaginas and give birth” becomes a crime when the state denies biological sex.
This article tackles a very complex subject in such a simple and effective way that even someone on the “Brain” side can understand it. :)
i.e. bkmk
The brain is a material object which has many functions and is subject to change in structure and ability to function.
Perhaps the word “feelings” would convey the problem better.
The mind is a function of the “rational” soul of humans and should guide action by reasoning.
Perhaps word like “reason” would be more descriptive.
Any Freeper???
Logical reality vs. emotional hell.
If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.
The Right Brain vs Left Brain test
LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic detail oriented facts rule words and language present and past math and science can comprehend knowing acknowledges order/pattern perception knows object name reality based forms strategies practical safe
RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling “big picture” oriented imagination rules symbols and images present and future philosophy & religion can “get it” (i.e. meaning) believes appreciates spatial perception knows object function fantasy based presents possibilities impetuous risk taking
I’m going to draw from Jonathan Haidt here. It isn’t necessarily “feelings vs mind”.
Liberals have 2 channel morality, care/harm and perceived fairness. Fairness to them is everyone equal in every way, whereas conservatives define fairness as proportional. Hence communism is a common goal for liberals.
The “emotions” side of liberals is the “whoever is crying the loudest/the most upset” is seen as the most deserving of help and to be given whatever they want. They will intentionally ignore the possibility it is emotional blackmail by manipulators or staged for political benefit.
Conservatives have 5 channel morality. Care/harm and fairness are two channels. We also have respect for authority/tradition, purity/sanctity and in-group loyalty.
To liberals respect for authority is oppression. Purity/sanctity looks insane, and when you apply it to sex, it is oppressive of sexual freedom and unfairly exclusive to not let people cheat on a spouse. In-group loyalty is unfairly exclusive and oppressive of the out-group, whether illegal aliens or the atheist you won’t let come in and take over your Christian club on campus.
The greatest determinant of whether or not someone votes liberal is the personality trait openness, love of novelty. At the far end, it drives them to hate the bland, boring and bad culture they grew up in and idolize the most exotic. Risk of terrorism? No, the more different, the better, bring in people from all other the world because that is so superior to my people and culture. Hence liberal hatred for Western civilization and white people.
Social cohesion? That’s oppressive to the newcomers, we need more of everything, as diverse as possible.
And when you have no absolute values except love of novelty, tearing down traditional icons is seen as liberating or good just because it is novel.
They may be overly responsive to “I’m tantruming/fake-crying, give me what I want even as political policy”, but this is a whole worldview based on different psychology.
I see just a hint of nipple.
Does that count?
relativism + subjectivism = anything goes
anything goes + emotionalism = anything goes that feels good
"whatever gets you through the night, it's alright"
John Lennon
She seems to be cold.
Clockwise for me, can’t get it to reverse.
clockwise for me also.
That explains it well: liberals are the equivalent of color blind, or even synesthesiatic, in three of the five channels.
The political left places on the left side of the Bell Curve.
She goes counterclockwise initially. I can get her to reverse then reverse again.
Because the brain represents the body and the mind represents the soul or spirit. It is the extra dimensionality of human thought process understood by Hebrew vs greek philosophy showing.
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