To feel or not to feel

[Old Soul]

I have an emotional dilemma on which I am hoping to receive some advice.

Whenever I witness something like a fellow student raising her hand during an economics lecture to argue that actually, women and men have no genetic differences with respect to physical ability (its all just a consequence of a male dominated society), or another's twisted, angry face when she discovers I'm an Objectivist and says "You know that you're selfish then, right?!", or another arguing to me how inaccessible drugs are in the ghetto and how our doctors are morally obligated to supply them with the right to life, I am emotionally torn.

On the one hand, witnessing such depravity and sickness makes me rage with anger and disgust. What I see before me is nothing to respect, value, or admire, and my undying love for my life, my liberties, and my abilities make the drop in my stomach a natural reaction. My belief system leads me to feel as passionately about evil as I do good. When I am confronted with it, I feel a natural repulsion, just like I feel a natural uplifting when I encounter something good, moral, and just.

On the other hand, I know this evil holds no power as it is only lifeless muck deserving no further thought or my emotional effort. Not allowing these events to touch me, to have any control over me whatsoever encourages me to continue fighting a feeling that arises only because I allow the event before me to hold any weight, or have the ability to affect me whatsoever, when in reality it does not.

These two opposing reactions as to how I should emotionally approach such occurrences has become more of an issue given my current situation, so I am seeking some outside advice. Thanks for your help.

[Tenure]

Let's say you spend 8 hours at the Gym per week. You've not been that intensive, but you've certainly been putting in more work than most people bother. You've been focused on getting stronger, faster, healthier. You've been cutting all the crap out of your diet, taking vitamin supplements, limiting yourself to maybe one 'cheat' meal a week. You find all your work is paying off: you feel better, more efficacious, more relaxed (plus you look GREAT!). Then some puny spat or some fat turd comes along to you and starts calling you a 'musclehead', a 'jock' and just criticises you for putting any effort in whatsoever. How are you going to feel?

Of course you'll be annoyed at first, but then you can identify your critics for what they are: impotent, in the sense they would never dare to put in the kind of effort and dedication you've been putting in. You're right in saying it's 'lifeless muck', but seeing a psychotic creep carving his initals into his arm is never going to be less disturbing.

Now, I think you probably know you should never let emotions carry over into an argument. That is, in the analogy, you wouldn't say, 'Oh yeah?' and proceed to punch the person out. The proper response, if someone is not going to conduct any sort of reasonable argument is just to state your disagreement and walk away - let it be known that their opinion holds no monopoly, but that you do not wish to discuss it with them. You have better things to do with you life.

Finally, don't hold moral judgements on your emotions. 'Should I feel 'x'?' is a dangerous route, and leads to repressing those 'bad emotions' and anxiety whenever one is faced with them. Eventually you turn into the kind of monotonous 'Randroid' that does actually exist, but only as a result of this path of emotional repression. Instead, ask yourself 'Why do I feel 'x'?'

You feel repulsed by these people, of course, because they are repulsive. Is there any contradiction here between your concious judgement and emotional judgement of the situation? It's contradictions you should be on the look out for, between your mind and body, not moral evaluations of one regardless of the other. Now, if you consciously thought 'this is evil' but emotionally felt numb or excited, then you know there is some sort of contradiction in your thoughts, something you're ignoring (the same is true vice-versa: knowing something is good but feeling disgusted or scared).

As for myself, the more I deal with the world in an objective fashion, the more I find myself being spiritually like Roark: yes, these things disturb me, but it becomes less of a paralysing fear, as I realise just how impotent and self-destructive it is, and just how upright and strong me and my ideas are. Essentially, it only hurts down to a certain point, and that point becomes more sacred and less scarred by the evil in the world, as it grows and brings me more happiness.

[Myself]

I agree with Tenure - don't emotionally censor yourself.

The important thing to remember is that your emotions stem from your own thoughts, actions, and convictions. You feel rage and disgust at the evil around you because although you've told yourself that evil is impotent, you haven't verified it experientially. You still subconsciously believe that the evil you see around you has power -- power that can affect you.

The way to achieve the serenity that Tenure mentioned and Roark experienced in The Fountainhead is to devote yourself -- not to combating evil -- but to creating good. Find for yourself what makes you happy. Devote yourself to the work you love. Find joy in the people around you. When you surround yourself with good, evil becomes an anomaly. When good become the rule, evil becomes the exception. Then you'll know experientially, not just through conviction, that evil is impotent. Your emotions will respond accordingly.

[volco]

I believe your las post replied your first.

I know exactly what you mean: I'm assuming college or amene social life. In those respects I've had my share and found that when I was confrontational the "moral righteousness" acted against me. Be careful: moral righteousness can act (if you decide so!) indetriment.

On the other hand, I was the other day relaxing 5 mins at the square and I heard some (high school) guys talking at least intelligibly about politics, fascism, peronism, etc, and I just approached before leaving, gave them a 4 mins lecture about the literal meaning of fascism, then about Capitalism, and left them with: "visit aynrand org"!

It is/was very very frustrating and degrading to not being able to discuss these things in class; I believe you can find plenty of examples in the boards;

but, as you say, you can build your personal projects even if that includes Objectivists "proselitism"

Then another important thing is that the more abstract the discipline the least grounds for irrational confrontation: for instance metaphysics. But if you begin with politics, a far away consequence of metaphysics, then you're doing it wrong.

Just as your emotions are a consequence of your conscious thought, so is etthics and politics a consequence of a previous concept integration (i.e. metaphysics)

MAt

[Mimpy]

Rob,

Emotions are a result of your value judgements. You feel disgust and anger toward these people because they criticize those values that you hold very passionately. It is natural that you would feel this way. If you did not, it would be because you did not value these things so much.

Simply understand, however, and I'm sure you already do...that emotions are not a tool of cognition. Don't let them be the driving factor in your actions. Beyond that, enjoy your emotions and use them to introspect and learn about yourself.

[aequalsa]

On the other hand, I know this evil holds no power as it is only lifeless muck deserving no further thought or my emotional effort. Not allowing these events to touch me, to have any control over me whatsoever encourages me to continue fighting a feeling that arises only because I allow the event before me to hold any weight, or have the ability to affect me whatsoever, when in reality it does not.

This idea, that evil has no power, except that power which good gives it is true, but becomes a problem when viewed too concretely. Every April 15 I am forced to realize that evil is not entirely impotent. Every time I have to deal with a roofing inspector, I realize that they do have an impact on my life. The reason that this is possible, as I see it, is that most people are mixed bags of good and bad. The good in them gives the bad power, more then "good people" giving "bad people" power. Even if all of the great minds went on strike, I am fairly confident the world would keep on plugging away(not as nicely, of course). As mentioned, the effects people have on you emotionally, for good or bad, are proper. The beneifit or damage to your values is what should cause you to feel. Evil and ignorance should anger you. Good should inspire.

The only mechanism by which I am able disregard these mostly bad people as unimportant, is to view the existence of evil and stupidity, as a natural disaster continually in effect. A hurricane might destroy my home and cause me great inconvenience, but to curse at the clouds and seek vindication or justice is a mostly empty hope. All I can properly do is pick up a hammer and build a new house...with better reinforcement. So I take stupid people and their ignorance into consideration with my plans, in the same way I would take into consideration that I lived in a flood plain when building a house.

[adrock3215]

In his latest Podcast here Peikoff replies to a similiar question (about halfway through).