We imagine ourselves in control of our life destinies. We
plan for our future as best and perfect as we can. But it rarely crosses our
mind how of how deep our emotions dominate us. We tend to focus on ideas that
soothe our ego. They make us look for evidence we to or already believe. We
often want to see what we want to see, depending on our moods. This dissonance
from reality is the mother of bad decisions and everything that haunts and
destroys our lives.
The Political Arena ;
Every politician today believes that he is rational, has realistic goals, and plans to climb the political ladder. They form and break alliances, sign memoranda of understanding, and so on. When their maneuvers backfire or their strategies do not yield, they will never lack excuses and excellent reasons for why it turned on them badly. They blame their opponents, or if need be their colleagues and allies for betraying them.
If really they are rational, why do their politics lead to chaos and self-destructiveness? Why are democracies fragile and are often bent? Why are democracies so corrupt? Why is it had to unite the citizenry? Answer: We are selfish and shrewd.What our decisions are our emotions- hunger for money, attention, and power. For these reasons those who enter politics are very tactical and clever, but none of their maneuvers leads to anything that lasts or serves the overall interest of democracy.
It is the ability to counteract emotional effects, to be
proactive, to think instead of reacting, to open your mind to reality and
accept it, as opposed to what you're feeling –Robert Greene (The Laws Of Human
Nature).
Note: Rationality is cultivated, it is not natural. By cultivating it, one realizes his greatest potential.
The Trap of Irrationality: How to be truly rational in the arena dominated by emotions?
understand
our fundamental irrationality. There are two factors that
should
render this more palatable to our egos: nobody is exempt from
the
irresistible effect of emotions on the mind, not even the wisest
among us;
and to some extent, irrationality is a function of the
structure of
our brains and is wired into our very nature by the way we
process
emotions. Being irrational is almost beyond our control. To understand this, we
must look at the evolution of emotions themselves.
Robert
Greene, The Laws of Human Nature
One must understand that the human
mind has to worship something, has to have its attention directed to what it
values above all else. Most of us it is our ego, others are money, gods,
family, jobs, education, and the unique ones it's their intelligence.
Master your emotions
Emotions are selfish, they turn us
inward; from reality. we guard our insecurities, thumbscrews, and anger. We
normally perceive the world through the lens of these emotions.
Train yourself never to react at
the moment, never make decisions when under strong emotions especially anger.
First, analyze your feelings. When you introspect and grade your insecurities,
you will see that they are not just. They will, time and again lose
significance under scrutiny and merit.
What serves the greater good
When facing a dilemma choose the
more morally demanding alternative. Do everything with love. Having such a
standard debases the ego trap.
Be open-minded
Open your mind to as many ideas and options as possible, even those of your rivals. With a calm spirit and open mind, you will make decisions, come up with rational ideas. Truly you will infect those around you with a rational spirit.
Imagine all possible consequences
of a strategy before committing to it
When your strategy is deep and far-reaching, then what
you gain by your calculations is much, so you can win before you even fight.
When your strategic thinking is shallow and nearsighted, then what you gain by
your calculations is little, so you lose before you do battle. Much strategy
prevails over little strategy, so those with no strategy cannot but be
defeated. Therefore it is said that victorious warriors win first and then go
to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
-Zhang Yu, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War
