A few weeks ago, a teacher at my kid’s school shared a bit of wisdom that has rocked my world. She taught the kids that there are four mental stages; feeling, thinking, planning, and doing. People can only be in one stage at a time, and people get frustrated when others are in different stages than they are. If you’ve ever had to bite your tongue while you listened to someone vent, you know this is true. If you’ve ever been married, you know this is true. If you’ve ever parented, you know this is true.
Recently, I joined the twitter world to exchange ideas (that’s the “thinking” stage, there) about the concept of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) and the impact of this on teen boys. While many people have shared insights and resources, I’ve observed a typical accusation that certain trans-identified people toss out: “You are saying we don’t exist!”
At first, this struck me as a bewildering non-sequitur. Are they really saying because I have different ideas about transgender theories or gender identity, that I must think their bodies aren’t present in the world? How would I explain that their typed grievances are popping up on my screen? Must I subscribe to a complex superstition of phantoms in the machine? Debating the points of trans identity in fact implies the opposite: I don’t spend time arguing about the Loch Ness Monster or fairies or unicorns, because they do not exist.
On second thought, I utilized the old psychology switcheroo to better understand this: projection. This makes sense. These twitter people are actually questioning and barking about their own existence. Somewhere along the line they got stuck. They are frozen in the “feeling” stage, and are under impression that feelings = existence. And deep inside, despite their passionate feelings, they realize that an existence centered on feelings isn’t very satisfying. They worry that they don’t exist.
As babies, our first mental flickers are indeed feelings. Instinct and our reptilian brain process hunger, cold, discomfort, warmth, rough, cozy, full, poopy. Miraculously, within a few weeks, we begin to think: that face brings comfort. That food tastes good. Soon after, we get to planning: I want that Cheerio on the tray. Then action: I’m going to grab it and put it in my mouth.
Of course, as we all know, mastering this feeling, thinking, planning, acting process can be pretty complex. Impulsively, we leap before we look. We sink into the sandpits of depression. We fill our lives with meaningless activities without stopping to smell the roses. Getting everything right all the time is hard. This is human nature.
And within our lifetimes, we see a broader pattern of this story. Childhood is for mastering feelings. High school and college are for mastering thinking. In our twenties we learn to plan and act. Later in life, we circle around to better know ourselves; our feelings and our thoughts. To wisely evaluate the effectiveness of our planning and actions. To confirm our plans and actions align with our values (aka “thoughts”).
But development on both the individual level and the societal scale requires moving up this ladder from feelings to action. We do not beat the Nazis, cure polio, or reform the justice system by looking at our navels and wallowing. Feeling is just the first step. We think, plan, act. That’s progress.
This is what our parents, grandparents, and teachers have been telling us for years. Get off the couch. Get a degree. Grow that garden, write that book. Yes- your feelings show you are alive. Congrats – you exist just like everyone else. But your thoughtful, considered actions prove you are living. Your obituary will list the things you have done, the relationships you have built, not the emotions you have felt.
To these trans twitter activists, I urge you to pull yourselves out of your sink hole of emotions. You are more than your feelings, truly. Your dramatic displays of outrage may temporarily satisfy a primal itch, but true self-knowledge and self-actualization comes with some effort and work. It’s got nothing to do with your gender- believe me. Do not circle in that flotsam. No “gender feeling” will ever bring you meaning or true fulfillment.
The only way forward is through your brain — not your sexual organs. You got your “dysphoria.” Fine – that’s a feeling. Now start thinking: why would I suddenly feeling like I dislike my body? Is there something actually physically wrong with it? Is there something appealing about the stereotypes associated with the other sex? Is there some trauma I’ve experienced or observed associated with my sex? Would external changes truly affect my internal feelings? Am I actually trying to avoid sexuality? Or growing up in general?
It’s about your brain and your hands. Get out there and get to work. You’ll feel better, I promise, and you’ll stop wondering if you exist.
30 comments
It strikes me that a lot of the dialogue around Trans Activism is attempting to realign cultural norms and practices (which are often influenced by human biological and psychological factors) with the notions of Rights, reality, and personal existence. This is of course a very ill-considered conflation, as cultural attitudes are more social than institutional, and certainly do not deny the existence of any individual in objective reality.
At the end of the day, there are different aspects to gender, and outside of the observable differences in sex (genitals, muscle/bone density, AND psychological trait differences) and the binary stereotypes conferred by every culture to some degree, the rest is an internal understanding within the individual. An individual is left to assess how they fit into those binary stereotypes and observable physical differences averages.
Now I don’t think societal systems should be telling people that their own self-assessment is wrong, but I also don’t think society should be compelled to coddle these people from the opinions of those who don’t witness or agree with the internal identification of a Trans person. The deeper questions of “why” one sees themselves the way they do should be asked, especially in children. Ultimately though, if someone makes compelling or otherwise arguments, and comes to the conclusion that they are “X”, they are the ultimate arbiter of that decision. Yet society should be under no obligation to provide children with permanent treatment until they have finished fully developing. If the Gender Dysphoria in an individual is truly a trend brought on by peer pressure and cultural aesthetics (likely the case in many instances), it will disapear with time and better self-understanding.
reply to comment by “Stacy”
James Lindsay, here is another new term for your Dictionary of the Wokish: “Stacy Folk”.
Stacy Folk, noun/nounette. Stacy Folk are the bottom feeding cannon fodder of their Woke rulers. Emotionally indoctrinated red-guardette Woke trench soldiers, Stacy Folk patrol “the boundaries of Gay/Straight” for “Queered/Trans Exclusion”. Stacy Folk breathlessly report their “take downs” on Woke social media to gain brownie shirt points from their Woke Pooh Bah Task Masters (in the manner of a low status hyena presenting freshly killed prey to higher ranked pack Alphas).
Stacy Folk have been forced (upon threat of Woke social shunning) to memorize a very strict script by their Woke betters. Stacy Folk are rigourously trained to attach the word “folk” to “marginalized” groups (trans folk, queer folk, black folk, etc.) to fool low-info social climbing Woke-wannabes into thinking such identity stereotypes are just plain “folk” and anyone who dares criticize them is “Fash” (as in Bash-a-Fash Inc.).
Stacy Folk are anal remora who puff and strut to show off to their shark-Borg protectors. Stacy Folk’s pronouns are Skid and Mark. Stacy Folk compensate for being bullied by becoming bullies. Natural clowns, Stacy Folk are the arrogant asshole who sashays out of the office washroom sneering at her “inferior” unWoke workmates while unknowingly trailing soiled toilet paper from her ass. Natural born Laughingstocks. Ultimate Gibbets Fodder. Sad Failed Humans, Stacy Folk were formerly known as Loser Folk.
Stacy Folk’s peevish, petulant, vain and infantile Buffoon outward appearance is a deceptive camouflage. Underneath the clown suit, Stacy Folk are violently cruel. Stacy Folk are always the first to light the match at a falsely accused Fash witch burning or supply the electrodes to torture captured innocent Fash. Stacy Folk’s lives exemplify David Hume’s famous description of Failed Humans:
“In such condition, there is… no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and, which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Stacy Folk. Add the term under the heading, Sub-Types of Woke Thuggettes.
I mean, the article is a big fallacy, isn’t it?
When black folk decades ago complained about “feeling like they didn’t exist” because actual government policies treated them like less than a citizen, or even a human being, that doesn’t mean they’re STUCK IN THE FEELING STAGE, it means STATE POLICY and CULTURAL ATTITUDES are DE-LEGITIMIZING their EXISTENCE comparative to others.
The author is raising a straw-man, and then segueing into a completely unrelated bit of rhetoric (all of which, ironically, contribute to the feeling trans folk have of being dehumanized).
Funny how you begin by claiming the article is a fallacy, and then pull a bait and switch.
Did black people claim they “feel like they don’t exist”, or did they claim they were denied their natural human rights? I hope you can see the difference between the two.
I’ll give you a hint. One refers to a subjective internal state, and the other refers to an objective description of reality.
If a black person claims there human rights are denied, then I can witness others denying them their rights. Or I can look up the relevant laws that are denying their rights.
However, if a black person claims they “feel like they don’t exist”, then they’re making a declaration about their internal state which can be known only to themselves.
Let’s do a thought experiment. Suppose, I, a white man, believe myself to be black. Will you defend my identity as a trans-black man?
If not, why is what you’re doing not DE-LEGITIMIZING my EXISTENCE?
If so, am I eligible for black only scholarships?
I thought you might like to fix the typo in your headline…therefor[e].
gmmayo70 nice to see you again.
More importantly, you raise some valid and important issues in your response to Alex. One issue not mentioned it the caputure of trans identifying teens by the medical and psychology communities.
Therapists have been instructed by various professional organizations to not vigorously question, examine, teach, etc the motives/thoughts/feelings of a person seeking treatment for gd.
The incredibly sad, unethical, and myopic aspect of medical intervention and other types of “treatments” is that no one has any idea why a person develops gender dysphoria. No idea! Treatment in the absence of a known cause is wasteful and harmful
Ok, if a doctor, therapist et al is NOT willing to question, examine or analyze a problem, they are incapable of resolving a problem.
I’d know, because I live with Autism. My brain, to keep me stable, engaged in a number of coping mechanisms. Ones I didn’t understand. I talked to my doctors and therapists about these things I didn’t understand. They analyzed them, asked questions, and I finally understood that this was simply a coping mechanism, albeit a most extreme one, that my brain had engaged in to keep me functional. Had they been unwilling to address things, I never would have been able to move forward. They’ve questioned various coping mechanisms I’ve considered, and have encouraged other good healthy coping mechanisms. In short, they did their job in trying to make sure that I am capable of living with my Autism.
If a doctor REFUSES to address the damages that Gender Dysphoria (or ANY medical mental condition) can create, then they’re not really doing their job. Their job of course is to help the patients cope with their problems and move forward with their lives.
If my doctors had simply coddled me and my Autism, I wouldn’t have been able to find healthy ways to work around the limitations of my Autism. They didn’t coddle me, they challenged me to think and understand the problems that my Autism dumps in my lap.
That is what it boils down to. These doctors are afraid of the political pressure and as such, they simply coddle people who need to be asked hard, and sometimes painful questions. So long as the doctors are too scared to do their job, their patients will never be able to move beyond the problems that ail them.
Feelings follow Choices.
This is not a “chicken or egg” statement.
You may at first “feel” or you may at first “think” something but, at some point you “choose” to agree or disagree.
In either case, once a choice has been made, feelings begin to cement and thoughts begin to develop a narrative to support the feeling.
The challenge is to avoid the trap of “because I have a feeling or think a thought – it must be true – merely because I feel it or because the thought just occurred to me”.
Obviously, this is not always easy to accomplish, and I’m sure we can all relate to a time when our feelings or a crazy idea overruled our reason.
Regardless, I wholeheartedly agree with the author about the progression of how choices are made.
Helping our children understand how to process thoughts and feelings is not an easy task but, abandoning that obligation because it’s difficult is a tragedy to be sure.
It seems to me like the common denominator of all of the collective crap going on in society is Twitter.
Great article and great comments!
Take away the internet/social media and there would be no more trans. Kids and teens are LEARNING this invented condition online. Transgender is coming from outside themselves and not from within. Child and teen Transgender is a cult invented via the internet. “Wrong body” is not humanly innate; it is politically imposed . Teenage mental illness and other conditions like autism, etc. are being hijacked (transjacked) for political purposes. How can any sane “loving” parent allow this to happen to their child? Cut the internet for your kid. Refuse social media for yourself. Return together to the non-virtual world and re-learn common sense, accept the pain of reality, and embrace the human truth of authenticity through struggle and sorrow.
You have a valid point there. Kids want to be seen as part of the crowd. They want to fit in, they want to belong. And if it means saying “well, I’m not comfortable in my body, obviously I was born trans!” then they’ll say that. Well, you know what?
When I was a teenager I wasn’t comfortable in my body. Hormones, a body that is changing all the time, there’s all sorts of things going on when you’re a teen that makes you feel awkward and uncomfortable with your body. This is all perfectly natural, and for thousands of years, humans have gone through it and moved on with their lives once they realized it is nothing more than a process. Their parents, grandparents and friends have either experienced the same process or are currently going through that same process they’re going through.
These teenagers are scared of bucking the trend and simply don’t understand that things will stabilize. Because if they don’t say the same thing their friends are saying, they’ll be isolated and rejected. Peer Pressure is the source of many many problems in our world. Social Media makes it both easier and faster to apply that peer pressure.
Nope, social media has nothing to do with it. But it’s real funny to see you try to find a solution for something you never even began to experience, and the fact that you’ve never experienced it really shows. And yes, if you are wondering, I don’t use social media. Back to the point. Trans people have been documented since the 1930s (but likely existed far before that). Oh, that goddamn 1930s social media must have been messing with their minds! Wait, what? Yeah. BS because trans people are old and social media is new. This social media excuse is just you coping because you don’t understand something so it has to be fake, according to you.
So, what’s the reason there are so many more trans people nowadays? Is it social media? That’s probably to blame for a lot of the younger kids (who aren’t actual trans, they just see videos and convince themselves that they are. But again, they aren’t actually transgender so it’s irrelevant to include them in your arguments). So, what is the reason? The rising acceptance. It isn’t that more trans people are being created, it’s that more trans people aren’t afraid to live as themselves anymore, due to the political and medical changes allowing the problem to be fixed. Why weren’t there a ton of trans people in, say, the 60s? Was it because there was social media? Nope. It was because you would get the absolute shit beaten out of you if people knew (best case scenario). Hope this educates you, good day.
I only venture into this for a specific philosophical/spiritual reason. As a mom you trump anything I might say about your child and I applaud your informed caring – vs. knee-jerk “support” for any feeling your son might have. I hope you have read this: https://quillette.com/2021/05/04/gaslighting-the-concerned-parents-of-trans-children-a-psychotherapists-view/
So, forgive me for pursuing my thoughts on this matter (not that anyone really gives a shit; it’s the Internet, after all, it is basically writing on water). I quote from the cited article which says parents are
“put off by simplistic slogans that don’t make much sense. ‘How can my son be born in the wrong body?’ asked one woman. ‘We’re in our bodies when we’re born … there’s no other option.'”
This is also my philosophical/spiritual position. I, too, believe that “wrong body” is a terrible distortion and misunderstands basic biological, psychological and, yes, spiritual realities. The cogito, which you reference, is one powerful argument for the reality of a self. It is not some illusory process to birth a child and a child is not some illusory cloud of relativity. A child is a real biological entity with a brain that is an evolutionary marvel.
This brain is bathed in biological essences and linked indissolubly with the body. And this biological reality is why I cannot be a dualist. I don’t believe in a soul/body dualism. I don’t believe there is some separate realm where thought and ideals operate in a higher reality that is somehow limited by the material conditions of incarnation. This puts me at odds with Plato…and with most world religions.
As a non-dualist I believe that most debilitating psychological conditions – like schizophrenia – are occasions where one has become painfully at odds with one’s physical and biological reality. And as a fan of hatha-yoga I take to heart the meaning of yoga as “attach, join, harness” by means of physical postures and breathing which unite soul and body as one – and by doing so enable a union with Reality itself.
“Wrong body” then is anathema to my philosophy and spirituality. As that parent says, “We are in our bodies when we’re born…there is no other option.” I believe the goal, then, of a fulfilling life is to unite ourselves into a body/mind/spirit whole and accept the slings and arrows that reality has dealt us. The measure of character is how well one deals with those slings and arrows. Claiming victimization by those hardships is not helpful. Feeling one is born in the “wrong body” is a life challenge that requires supportive parents, possible therapy and maybe even a lifelong struggle to integrate those feelings into a unified self.
Using medical intervention to change one’s body can be seen as a way of avoiding the challenges of those feelings. It may not be easy, but I don’t support avoiding those feelings by surgically altering the body. And it is definitely not a decision a teenager with a still maturing brain should make. I see that as self-mutilation, the mortification of the flesh, if you will, and parents who support that I think are abusive. The very many desisters who regret their decisions and are left with mutilated bodies should give any parent powerful evidence to resist the propaganda of trans activists.
And, of course, these views put me in trans hell as a Satanic purveyor of “harmful” ideas. I am sorry you are being attacked by true believers from a dangerous schizoid religious cult. May my little internet commentary bring you a small amount of support and comfort.
I, for one, find a lot in what you’re saying Jim. I have said for years that transgender ideology is the reductio ad absurdum of Cartesian dualism. As a Thomist, I differ with you a bit about body and soul. I consider myself a hylomorphist. But on hylomorphism, unlike Cartesian dualism, the body and the soul are not separate substances but different aspects of the same substance, related to each other as form to matter. So as parts of the same substance, the body cannot be “wrong” for its soul. To believe otherwise is delusional. And to indulge the mentally ill, especially mentally ill children, by chemically and surgically mutilating them is immoral to the point of outright evil.
A very good article. The idea of feeling, thinking, planning and action being distinct stages is important tfor me to remember in many aspects of life. My partner sits in his emotions whilst I think my way through them, this causes a lot of friction when arguing as we are not on the same page. Will keep this in mind for the future. Thank you
Having fought, lost and then ran screaming from the Trans Wars as a gay man who publicly opposed the Trans Queer Hall Putsch of Gay in the 1990s to early 2000s, I can state from “lived experience” that this entire klusterfuck of krazy is a massive psy ops. Trans Inc. has nothing to do with bodies or sex organs or anything human. It is a political weapon manufactured to assault people’s reality with deliberate forced acknowledgement of a known absurd unreality. Orwell’s 2 plus 2 equals 5. A Mao/Lenin tactic right out of the social control playbook and one of the most successful in the history of totalitarianism.
As others have written here on this topic, bad (indeed criminal) parenting is the catalytic converter at the local micro level of actual trans children “cases”. Munchausen by Proxy Rage/Look At Me-ism has replaced New Age Woo-Woo “I have pretend morals” as the hip new way for super square nobodies trapped in meaningless fetid lives to audition for Oprah specials as this week’s mouseburger- psycho-soccer mom nobodies who trans-form themselves into deranged freak show performers via their children a la Whatever Happened to Baby Jane so these soul-barren women can play-act being alive.
My favourite trans insanity story from the UK was the following.
A woman (with requisite nerdy nebbishchannezzer ninny-pusswuss husbandette cringing in the background) was the mother of a male baby that (she claimed) did not speak one word (or sound) until it was 18 months old when it looked into its mother’s eyes and declared in perfect English: “Me Girl. Me Girl.”
The mother claimed that her son, now daughter (saughter?) could not speak for a year and a half because the infant had been silenced by society’s (“white right wing”) gender fascist tyranny. The child was immediately rushed by its sociopathic stage mother to the Trans Inc. lupron cancer drug puberty blocker genital amputation fast track machine as Mommy Dearest snatched the P T Barnum Freak Crown as the queered toast of talk shows and chat lines for months and months of Proxy celebutante self-importance. Trans is a manufactured lie.
I remember a time, many many years ago, when the militant gays pushed, and pushed hard on the whole “you were born gay”. What happened? A large number of people who wanted to walk away felt trapped. So, they found an “escape”. They committed suicide.
It was horrible that this happened.
And what is happening today? A bunch of people who want to walk away from being “trans” are having the same exact societal pressures being levied on them. Again, by the most militant types. And, once again, what is happening? Suicide rate among trans is going up. And nobody seems to be willing to look at the similarities between these two events.
Let me try to have a moderate take on this topic. I have absolutely no authority on this topic. I am just a citizen trying to defuse radicalization.
First, it’s not for you to decide how people identify themselves. If they adopt “I feel therefore I am” as a philosophy instead of “I think therefore I am”, it’s their right. For a child, you can nudge and talk about your own way of thinking, but it’s their own teenage years, let them be. This requires some introspection on your part.
Second, those that suffer from gender dysphoria (or think they do, or have a child that think they do) should get professional help and should get asked all those questions at the end of your text, but in a non-judgmental environment. Don’t guess the outcome of this process. If there really is a problem, a range of solutions exists, from trying to modify the social environment (probably hard with people like you around) to body modification.
Third, I don’t believe in separate phases. We still having feelings when thinking, and vice-versa. We should all accept that our feelings affect our thinking and try to understand how.
Now the part where I somewhat agree with you. I also believe that reason leads to a better world. I also have a hard time being in public spaces with people with the “feelings first” mindset. I think you truly need this reasonable conversation you crave.
I think you should withdraw from those spaces. Your hurt the feelings of these trans people and accomplish nothing. They won’t read this text. Don’t blame them for invading your space, they truly believe they are there to help.
What you need is a safe space. A place where there is only parents that have been or are going through this process are allowed. Bonus points if professional help is available.
“First, it’s not for you to decide how people identify themselves. If they adopt “I feel therefore I am” as a philosophy instead of “I think therefore I am”, it’s their right. For a child, you can nudge and talk about your own way of thinking, but it’s their own teenage years, let them be. This requires some introspection on your part.”
That’s not how this works.
Someone may identify themselves as Santa Claus, but that doesn’t grant them the ability to fly around in a sleigh and stuff their asses down a billion chimneys in an evening. We’re talking about tangible, physical reality, and the denying of that is literally psychosis. You can argue that everyone has their right to psychosis, but the rest of us are not required to live in that alternate reality.
You commit the same error here the author points out – criticizing this POV is no more denying anyone’s “right” as it is denying their existence. You have the right to claim you’re Santa, and I have the right to say you aren’t. Learn to argue that point, rather than passive-aggressively shove someone out of it, as you attempt here.
As a parent, this idea of “let them be” was bad advice when it hit the mainstream back in the 70s. It’s worse now. Teenagers generally lack the psychological or general capacity to engage in all sorts of adult activities. Getting a mortgage, voting, engaging in consensual sexual activity with adults, and a host of other activities I hope you could also pull off the top of your head. For some reason, you and a growing segment of society seems to think that determining gender is well within a child’s ability to figure out when they’re still trying to figure out how to solve for X. The idea is absurd on its face.
This doesn’t require introspection on the author’s part, but more life experience, better comprehension of the concepts you invoke, and a tighter reading comprehension on yours. Your view is hardly moderate, and the fact that you seem to think it is speaks to a particular mal-educated strain currently running rampant in public discourse. Your passive-aggressive use of nonsense like “safe-spaces” does not add to the discussion, but attempts to crowd others out.
This tack has no place in adult conversation.
gmmay70,
Great and astute comment, but I’m afraid you’re trying to nail jello to a wall talking to the kind of self-blinded ego who can actually write: “I am just a citizen trying to defuse radicalization.”
Hey, “citizen”, your shit stinks just like everybody else’s. Read the Grand Inquisitor section of Dostoevsky’s Brothers K and look up the word humility before the “defused” drag your ass like “deradicalizer” Robespierre’s to the national razor.
“I have absolutely no authority on this topic.” So STFU and LISTEN.
Oh, I have no illusions that I’m converting a zealot, but my response is mainly for observers. If you don’t pushback against nonsense, it gains traction.
Just doing my part. 😉
Let me get this straight.
Santa Claus is not real.
So Trans people are deluded.
Where have I heard this kind of rhetoric before? Oh right, it was applied to, and used to belittle, gay folk, black folk, women, slaves, white workers and kids. Twas wrong then, and tis wrong now.
“Gay marriage” may not fit your conception of “traditional marriage” but it’s now accepted by sane people. “Black people” may not fit your conception of “traditional humans” but it is now accepted by sane people. “Left handed people being human and not evil” (Yes Christians actually persecuted this group too) may not fit your conception of “traditionalism”, but they are not accepted by sane people.
Likening Trans people to Santa Claus is like likening Gandhi to the Easter Bunny.
stacy, the strawman you employ in your grandstanding tirade is as extravagant as it is absurd. someone remarks that not taking all self-id as gospel truth isn’t necessarily the same thing as denying anybody the right to self-id however they choose to. i have every right in the world to identify as jesus christ the son of god, but this right does not override another person’s right not to take my word for it. your conflation of this point with some rabid, hateful notion of “traditionalism” that nobody has espoused is dishonest to the core and a tawdry attempt to intimidate dissenters from speaking by means of comparing them, preposterously, to people who consider african americans subhuman. i myself am a trans woman and i find this to be as outlandishly dishonest as it gets.
100% With you on that non. Our too long silence is the main cause of why we are where we are today.
It only takes a few loud dogs to shepard a heard. But to stop that you do not need to wake all the sheep. You only need to wake the sleeping lions.
You seem to be one of them – keep up the work!!! (And as I’m awake I decided to join you👍)
Great points, Alex. Only normal person in the comment section. Anyone who disagrees with this is most likely uneducated.
I think you have a very good point here. It is also written about in the book “The Coddling of the American Mind.” One of the great untruths of our age and one that is being taught to our children in the form our gender ideology is that feelings are the most important thing and must be followed at costs. This is a fallacy that leads many astray.
I’ve learned, from my life, that humans who are the most functional in society, are that combination of feeling AND thinking beings. If we try and divorce ourselves from either one, things tend to break and fall apart.
A man who refuses to “feel” and understand simple things like compassion is going to come across as cruel and unfeeling. A man who refuses to feel is also going to discover that emotional connections, which is what is required to keep us mentally intact, is not really possible. And a person without social connections is someone who cannot long remain stable.
A man who refuses to understand that the world is run by numbers is going to discover that making progress in life is extremely difficult. Like it or not, money is based around numbers, and money is well, one of the simplest ways to satisfy the needs for things like food, water and shelter. Without these basic needs, it will eventually impact on our emotional side as well.
We need to learn how to balance the two. Both are vital, both are important. Accept that feelings are important. But also understand that we need to be willing to think and reason our way through things. We cannot simply ignore one side or the other, at least not without consequence.
Nice article. I don’t think the community you’re reaching out to is going to take any of it to heart though.
I’m afraid you are correct. The people who need to read this are confusing identity with existence. Just because I decide to call myself a pansexual kumquat doesn’t make me one, there’s something called reality that makes that decision.