Have you ever been having an argument with somebody, and they came out of left field with some point they were trying to make? No matter how hard you tried your best to see their point of view, you were completely baffled with what it was they were trying to get across?

Have you ever worked for somebody, or been in a relationship with somebody, and you just never figured out the reasoning behind their thinking? Perhaps you thought that they were a big daft, and they had no idea what was going on in the real world?

Maybe you thought they were being illogical. Despite your impeccable logic, they still failed to see your point. Despite how well you flawlessly presented your arguments, they still held fast to their opinion, regardless of how blatantly obvious that they were incorrect. Well guess what? You actually may have been wrong.

More and more neural scientists are starting to believe that logic is a mere illusion of our thinking process.  Study after study has shown that humans are severely limited with certain kinds of decisions which are seemingly logical based, but under different conditions, the same choices yield different answers. One study, involving cards and probabilities yields only a correct answer around twenty five percent. Yet the exact same study, but with the choices described not as black or white or even or odd, but instead as people in social situations, people score correct answers much higher.

Neural surgeons have reported that when the so called “emotional centers” of the brain, generally thought to be the interferers of logic, are disconnected, it is almost impossible to make a decision. Brian Tracy reports that ALL decisions are made from an emotional perspective, and then a split second later the “logical” outcome is calculated by the preconscious processor, and only later delivered to the conscious brain and so we think of it as a ‘logical’ choice.

Most people won’t like to admit that a great deal of human choices are made subconsciously and then only later defended as a conscious, rational, logical choice. Color and model of your car, type of clothes that you wear. Your partner in life. The things that you eat every day, the movies and music that you like. All these are decisions that are made emotionally.

Problems can arise when you make a decision, and believe that it is a logical decision. Especially if the decision is publicly made. You will stick to your choice, because you think it is a logically sound outcome. By admitting to yourself that at least it may be possible that it was driven by emotion, you may open yourself up for reconsideration. And that can help you drastically improve your relationships, both at home and work. And it can improve your decision making ability overall.

Something to think about next time you are about to accuse somebody of being an illogical boob.
Permalink