Emotions -> Will - The emotions are the primary influence upon our choices. While certainly we try to include reason in our choices, when it comes down to it, all our decisions are based upon our desires and fears (reason merely becomes a vehicle to decide what would best fulfill our desires or our fears). If we greatly desire something, we are almost certainly going to make a choice that obtains our desire. If we fear something, we will most likely make a choice that will allow us to avoid what we fear. At least, this would be the case if our emotional center was a unified whole with no internal contradictions. However, we as humans are conflicted. For instance, we may desire two things that are in opposition. Or we may desire something that we also fear. Or we may fear two options, one of which must be chosen.
Take the example of the person desiring to lose weight. They have a goal of losing weight, but however they also have a desire to taste certain foods that would hinder their progress towards reaching their goal of losing weight. What generally happens? Over all people, the average response would be to eat the food instead of refraining so as to be more likely to lose weight. Why? The desire for the pleasure that comes from the taste of food is greater than the desire to refrain and make it easier. Why is that? Two reasons. First off, an experience that can be had immediately will draw a stronger response than something that will take longer, especially if it means the immediate desires are not met. Or in other words, immediate gratification. But it goes deeper than that. The taste of good directly evokes an emotional response of pleasure. On the other hand, losing weight only indirectly produces an emotional response (by attracting mates, by allowing for greater athletic ability, by allow for a longer lifespan, etc.). While those too are desires, they are not as influential upon deciding to do things that only indirectly obtain those things. So in order for the person to be more likely to choose to refrain from eating food that might taste good but would hinder their weight loss goal, they would have to develop a greater desire for those things. But desires can not simply be increased by the snapping of the finger (nor can fears be decreased like that), but it takes a concentrated effort over time to change the desires of the person.
Now while emotional desires and fears place a strong influence upon our choices, they do not dictate each individual choice but rather they determine what we will probably pick. For instance, the person may have a stronger emotional desire to eat the food instead of refraining, but in certain instances they may actually refrain. However, this will probably not continue over the long run. More often than not, they would choose to eat, but there may be a few times where they choose not to. Our choices are not simply a matter of the strongest desires or fears, or otherwise there is not true concept of choice. Rather, our own ability to choose may pick something that is not as strong of a desire or that we fear more, but this less frequent.
Will -> Emotions - As I just mentioned, often times we have to increase our desires or decrease our fears in order to change the choices we make over the long run. However, we have partial control over our emotions, but not total. For instance, how many times do people who fear something that they have to do try to tell themselves not to fear it? They will try many techniques, such as focusing on something else, or analyzing the situation to see how irrational it is to have that fear, etc. The disheartening result is that often times our fear remains, and it can inhibit us from making the proper choice,
So is it impossible for us to overcome our fears or to reduce our desires? No. It is possible, however it is a complicated process often times. For instance, many people have overcome strong phobias through a process. Often times these processes include experiencing the thing that cause the phobia in progressively greater manners and thinking rationally about the fear and the object of fear. However, often times another party is necessary to encourage, if not force, the person to experience their phobia, or otherwise the person would as a result of their fear avoid it, not matter how much they think rationally about their phobia. So on one hand, merely thinking and trying to choose not to fear something does not free someone from that fear. But, without the cognitive process of thought and desiring not to be fearful of a certain object, the person would probably not overcome their fear either. In other words, the affect our choices have upon our emotions do exist, but are minimal. However, their real power is that they are the catalyst for other things that influence our emotions (our habits and actions, or the experience of our actions to be precise). Without a choice to overcome our fears, we probably won't overcome our fears, but in conjunction with facing our fears, our choices can help us to change our fears (and also change our desires).
But it would be overly optimistic to say that we all can simply overcome any desire or fear with great success (even if it is not as strong as a phobia). The desires and fears we are making choices to change are the same things that are influencing our choices. So it essentially becomes a tug of way between the desire or fear we are trying to change and our choice to change (or actually, our desire to change that influences our choice). Often times the status quo wins out and we are unable to change our desires and fears significantly on our own. Often times, external motivation is necessary but even then this in and of itself can fail to produce a change.
Knowledge -> Will - As I mentioned in my previous post, it is not precise to say knowledge alone by itself influences our choices. It would be more proper to say that knowledge only affects our choices in conjunction with the desire to make choices based upon knowledge. So, those who endeavor to make choice purely based upon reason have a stronger desire to make choices based upon reason. On the other hand, our emotions only influence our will based upon our knowledge (whether true or not) of what will happen with certain choices. A suitable metaphor is to say the emotions are the automobile, our will is the driver, and the knowledge is the head lights. Emotions are the primary influence upon our choices, but knowledge informs us what will happen with certain choices, which is what evokes our emotion responses and so influences our choices. Furthermore, just like a car can continue to drive with dim or no light, so can the emotions influence us without much knowledge. However, if the lights are working but the vehicle isn't, the lights serve do not help to make the car move, just as knowledge without the emotions does not influence our choices.
But looking back at the desire to be rational, a person may think if they make a certain choice, it will come out with the best outcome. However, often times, there are other desires that contradict the desire to make actions based purely upon knowledge. It is in fact a myth (with the exception of those who are brain damage in emotional areas) that people may be purely rational. Other things serves to influence our choices and do things that influence our choices in another direction, and may even influence our reason and our perception of the knowledge that we have. So knowledge (and reason) can influence us, but it is just like any other emotional desire or fear.
Now one might say then, in this chart, that knowledge may simply be a specialized desire that influences us and thus it might be properly listed under emotions. This can certainly be said, however knowledge is itself a big enough influence upon our choices to merit its own separate part.
I know that this is a rather complicated look at these things, but it is rather unavoidable in order to develop the point I am trying to bring out. One should keep in mind that my explanations are in fact just a very simple explanation for very complex processes. I am in fact only trying to bring out the points that have relevance to the topic of redemption, sin, righteousness (which I will tie in after I finish going through the chart).
The next post in this series will focus upon the relation between emotions and habits. Then the fourth post will look at how actions are influence by habits and choices, and how actions affect our emotions. After that, I will tie them into an understanding of redemption, sin, and righteousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment