If our goal is to help people make better choices, it helps to first create better feelings.
~ Seth Godin from, https://seths.blog/2021/07/narrative-and-feelings/
slip:4usena1.
Godin often makes insightful points like this one. But I often wish he’d use his enormous reach to also talk about the other part—
If our goal is to help people make better choices, it helps even more to show them how they can use their rationality. It’s an inbuilt feature of being human—sometimes I’ve argued it is the defining characteristic of being human. It is, in fact, our planetaryily-unique super power. (We have other super-powers, like compassion, which I think may not be unique to humans.)
Yes, as Godin points out, we should create better feelings for others. But how great would each of our lives be if we weren’t governed by our feelings. The goal isn’t to eliminate feelings nor emotions—that’s a dumb idea. The goal is for all the parts of who we each are, to get the appropriate due.
ɕ