Mixing emotion and logic

“In his book How We Decide (Houghton Mifflin, 2009), Jonah Lehrer describes what research in the field of neuroscience is revealing about the peculiar blend of logic and emotion that leads to superior decisions and why human beings struggle with getting the mix right. “Ironically, it’s those moments when emotions seem most persuasive—when the brain is completely convinced that it’s time to go all in—that you should take a little extra time to reflect,” Lehrer writes. “Make yourself consider alternative possibilities and scenarios.””

Snippet from a snippet

Wishful thinking

From Mormonism Unvailed by E.B. Howe (1834):

“There is nothing more curious than the connection between passion and credulity — and few things more humiliating and extraordinary, than the extent to which the latter may be carried, even in minds of no vulgar order, when under the immediate influence of any strong interest or excitement. It is also true that we have frequently to encounter a perverse incredulity and a callous insensibility to evidence, when we attempt to convince any one of what is contrary to his opinions, wishes or interests.”

Desire and Scarcity

A Sense of Scarcity
 
Wanting something makes it seem rarer than it really is.  Another case of emotions affecting judgement.

From Herbert Wray’s excellent “We’re Only Human” blog on the Association for Psychological Science website.

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