So much emotion in this thread, its difficult to follow ..in fact I dont follow it.
Try and separate your emotional selves from your practical selves?
I dont mean any offence by this post. If youre in an emotionally unstable state then its little use in trying to reason with people because it wont work until they get over the state and are ready to see things rationally.
Try and separate your emotional selves from your practical selves?
Your emotional tone sets your attentional agenda and then demands that your logical processes explain and validate your response. Consider the following scenario... two colleagues at work give presentations. One colleague is a friend and the other is an insufferable co-worker. You focus on the strengths of your friend's presentation, dismissing any apparent weakness. At the same time, you focus on the weakness in your rival's presentation, disregarding the strengths. You can't help it, although you might rationally think you can. It takes an enormous amount of conscious energy, awareness and vigilance to suspend this natural predisposition.
Emotions instinctively collect supportive evidence while simultaneously discounting contrary evidence. This is what makes it so hard to reason with someone who is emotionally upset. Your argument, no matter how logical or sound, carriers no authority if it is out of sync with the emotional tone of the moment. Feelings are self-justifying,, generating their own beliefs and support.
Even though our emotional tone sets our attentional agenda, we typically explain our emotional responses as if the rational thoughts occurred first, putting the cart before the horse...lacking awareness of our emotions we believe that our thinking occurred first. Even if emotions reach the threshold of consciousness to become noticeable feelings, we understand them rationally, once again giving our thoughts apparent priority.
I dont mean any offence by this post. If youre in an emotionally unstable state then its little use in trying to reason with people because it wont work until they get over the state and are ready to see things rationally.