Rules of Thinking, The

RULE 80

Balance logic and emotion

So it’s not good to let your emotions get the better of you if you want to make the best decision. But interestingly, it’s not good to remove all emotion from the exercise either.

Research has been done with people who have suffered brain damage that makes them unable to feel emotions. And one thing they all have in common is that they can’t make decisions. They can rationalise all the arguments, but they don’t know how to plump for a particular choice. Neuroscientists have concluded that this is because very few decisions are without any kind of emotional component. Even choosing between coffee and tea, or cereal and toast, becomes almost impossible if you can’t bring your emotions into play. So where does ...