To what extent do you let reason or logic make your decisions for you? To what extent do you allow your emotions to steer them?
And please don't reference "common sense". It does not exist.
6
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Emotions are the engine which provides the power and drive, and logical thinking the controls which steer and brake the ship. You can not do anything without both.
Fernapple
Level 9
Jan 5, 2020
6
I think that’s right. But to extend your metaphor if I may, I think it's emotion that selects the ultimate destination of the voyage, although reason may dictate intermediate ports as being the most efficient route
Common sense definition:
Sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.
Of course common sense exists.
LiterateHiker
Level 9
Jan 4, 2020
6
@Seeker3C
Common Sense Quotes (457 quotes)
Yes, but not with many
With an analytical mind, I don't let my emotions dictate my actions.
As a parent, I'm the calm one. Don't have a temper. Like my mother, I'm an excellent problem-solver.
Saving My Little Brother When He Fell Through the Ice
When my brother, Lee, 9, fell through the ice while ice skating, all the other kids on the beach were screaming and paralyzed. At age 12, I swung into action. Lee was jumping up in the hole to catch a breath, wearing heavy ice skates. He was freezing and tiring quickly.
"Are there oars under that rowboat?" I asked, grabbing Ricky Salvagio, 13, who lived there. Ricky was taller and bigger than me. (My parents stowed oars under our overturned rowboat in winter.) Ricky said yes.
"Quick! Let's push the rowboat onto the ice and use the oars to pole out to Lee."
Reaching Lee, I ordered Ricky to counter-balance me. "Grab the back of my pants and DON'T LET GO. I'm going to lean into the water and grab Lee."
Leaning into the icy water, I grabbed Lee's jacket. "PULL!" Together, we hauled Lee into the rowboat, depositing him like a sodden lump.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Salvagio called my mother, five houses away. We all lived on the lake. A registered nurse, Mom loaded blankets into the station wagon and drove to the Salvagio's house.
Arriving home, Mom put Lee in a hot bath. When she handed Lee a cup of hot cocoa, he was shivering so hard he spilled every drop.
LiterateHiker
Level 9
Jan 4, 2020
6
Fantastic !
yes but I would argue that you flew into action because you cared about Lee. I would suggest you would do the same thing had the child been a stranger, because you care about people. And caring is the emotion that prompted your action. In this situation, I'll bet you had a burst of adrenaline, causing you to think and act quickly. Of course many people would react with paralysis and they would be no use in the situation. Lee is lucky to have you as a sister.
Thank you. Don't discount my problem-solving skills. When faced with a problem, I immediately generate options to solve it. I think steps ahead.
Saving a U.S. Forest Service Ranger's Life
In 2003, my boyfriend and I backpacked to Lake Colchuck, 6,000', on July 4th weekend. We awoke to six inches of snow. It was sleeting sideways. The icy, howling wind was brutal.
Leaving, we stumbled across a Ranger lying on the ground beside the trail, shivering violently and gasping for breath. She was soaking wet, dressed in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Her mother-in-law dithered around uselessly.
"Why can't she breathe?" I asked. "She has asthma and forgot her inhaler." She also forgot a jacket.
Gave her a few puffs from the asthma inhaler in my pack. Dragged her under a tree, out of the sleet. Directed my boyfriend to fire up the stove and heat water. Then I asked him to shield her from view while I stripped off her wet clothes.
She was about my size. I always bring extra clothes when backpacking. I dressed her in dry long underwear, rain pants, a turtleneck, wool sweater and fleece jacket. Gave her my spare mittens and hat (I had a hood). Fashioned a raincoat from a large plastic bag.
Poured hot tea down her throat. Although she could breathe, she was stumbling and confused with hypothermia.
The Lake Colchuck trail is steep and rocky, with a steep drop-off on one side in some areas. Lots of rocks and protruding roots underfoot = tripping hazards. Holding her arms over our shoulders, we carefully side-stepped her down the trail.
Two teenage boys ran up the trail. "Do you have a cell phone?" I asked. "This woman has hypothermia and needs medical attention. Please run back down the trail and when you get a signal, call 911. Tell them we will meet the ambulance at the trailhead in 2-1/2 hours or so."
The ambulance was waiting when we arrived at the trailhead. While the Ranger was being taken care of in the ambulance, her mother-in-law asked for my name and address. I carry paper and a pen in my pack.
Afterward I got a wonderful letter from the Ranger. She returned my clothes. "Thank you for saving my life," she wrote. "I feel embarrassed to tell my work colleagues the stupid thing I did. I thought I could just run up to Lake Colchuck. I will never go into the mountains unprepared again."
@LiterateHiker Oh no I'm not at all discounting your problem solving skills.You sound like the perfect person to be Workplace Health and Safety Officer. I keep up my first aid so I am prepared although I also know from experience that I have a cool head in an emergency too. Of course shock too can make one calm and methodical.........I could let myself go to pieces AFTER the ambulance people took over. I'm just saying emotions are involved in the decisions we make because we are human beings not robots. Although robots can be program to behave altruistically. 
.
We have tens of thousands of volunteer firefighters here in Aust. If they were making a purely logical and rational decision, they wouldn't go near a fire. We can certainly minimise risk by being well trained but the selfless act is emotive.
I don't burst into tears or collapse afterwards.
What do you mean by "going to pieces"?
@LiterateHiker Well when I found my husband collapsed and seemingly without a pulse at 11.30pm, I called to the neighbours who began CPR, I phoned the ambulance and calmly gave them the details, I phoned my parents to drive over and babysit. I packed a bag with Ron's essentials he might need for the hospital. It wasn't until I was in the second ambulance being transported to the hospital that I began to cry. I wasn't a blithering idiot until everything had been done. All to know avail....he was gone.
On a more positive note, I decided to have a party to celebrate his life last Dec. It was more for my sons who had little or no memory of their father.It was 20 yrs since his death. I invited some of his old friends and everyone had to tell an anecdote. There was much laughter but oh sadness too. It brought a mixture of strong emotions but it was the right decision.
I fell thru the ice when I was 5. My mother had sent me on an errant to pick something up for her and on the way back I decided to take a short cut. Well I fell into the river but it was not vey deep, only to my tummy. I screamed so much that people came running, someone dragged me out and took me home I was so frighten that my mother was going to punish me but this time she did not. When I think back on it I can still feel the cold on my body.
I have an irrational attachment to logical decision-making. What I mean by that is that I try to be so careful, to plan the absolute best outcome, that it can sometimes be paralyzing to even try to make a decision. So, it's a logical process most of the time, but often stemming from an emotional fear of making a mistake. shrug
resserts
Level 8
Jan 4, 2020
7
Emotions are involved in every part of decision making. Will our decisions make us sad, angry, happy, fearful? Will those emotions be short term or long term. Are they just for my own gratification or the good of everyone?
Disciplining my child may make me sad short term but long term I will be happy she has learnt to modify her behaviour and thus improve social skills. I will be proud of the young woman she has become.
When I go to buy a car, I might prefer the pretty green one but long term, the ugly grey one will make me happier because it is in far better condition. Besides, if I'd bought the green one it would've been short term gratification as I wouldn't give a toss about the colour after a couple of weeks.
Someone below wrote below that making a fire today in Aust would lack common sense but it is also an emotive issue. We care that that fire might get out of control, kill someone and animals.
My only rule is not to be impulsive in my decision making. I've certainly learned this from experience.
MsDemeanour
Level 8
Jan 4, 2020
5
half reason and half emotion usually works best!
sandrarocks83
Level 7
Jan 4, 2020
4
I have been told since I was 5 or 6 that I have the RARE gift of common sense...and have observed that the Rare part is very true. It has made me very oddly looked at, even unpopular. Not much of a "gift",frankly, , but if we are in a collapsing building, you might find me useful.
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Jan 4, 2020
4
Common sense, as someone once said, is a collection of prejudices acquired before the age of 18. Aren't you the one who told me that a fire would be starting in the attic soon when looking at a Tesla coil that I had built and mistaking the toroid for some sort of jerry-rigged ventilation system?
Don't get your knickers in a wad, I luv yas, anyway...
I consider the DBT approach: reason and emotion working in tandem.
bleurowz
Level 8
Jan 4, 2020
4
@Seeker3CO Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
[verywellmind.com]
[psychologytoday.com]
Immediate reactions , 90% emotions for me .
I have learned thou to hide and avoid actions until ready to think .
Final decisions and actions and judgment , 75 % logic ,” know my limits “, potentials , refer to past experiences for me .
And final of final , if important stage / situation , I still consult my life time friends and my sister who know me better than I know my self .
It’s a process alright !
Pralina1
Level 9
Jan 4, 2020
2
I naturally decide most things with logic alone, but I believe emotions should at least be taken into consideration..Depending on the situation. It is what makes us human
KenAnderson
Level 3
Jan 4, 2020
4
Always fight emotion. It totally clouds rational and practical decisions. Just try not to be cold SOB in the process.
KevinMR
Level 7
Jan 4, 2020
4
Fortunately human beings are not robots. We're not even Vulcan. Reason should motivate our actions as often as possible, but it's not always possible.
Shawno1972
Level 7
Jan 4, 2020
2
Depends on the situation.
Paddypereira
Level 7
Jan 5, 2020
2
My thoughts exactly.
I tend to over think it some at times, but i like living in reality, i think reality dictates the use of logic and reason.
My emotions can be all over the place so i like to let them chill for abit at times. Usually because of one of my ptsd issues, which are usually triggered by perceived or not perceived serious saftey issues.
I like happy and love emotions, so does my dog...
HerbertNewsam
Level 6
Jan 5, 2020
2
Still overthinking about that big bushy beard that has all your breakfast, lunch and dinner in it I see.
@Jolanta it isnt a cookie duster for sure, more like a mop. Lol
@HerbertNewsam Gosh must be a health hazard.
@Jolanta only if ya trip over it....lol
Have not shaved nor cut my hair since 1994...
I enjoy the lil critters living there...they just don't like the soap. lol
I want to be as natural as possible, its a comfort to me.
@HerbertNewsam Oh, you poor sod.
@Jolanta thanks
@Jolanta i got rid of the sod, lol i hated mowing. I am now sod poor not a poor sod....
@HerbertNewsam You oh so very wrong there, oh you sod one.
@Jolanta what can i say other than, i like playing in the dirt...
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