Animal or Human?

Question

Being very testy,some people find themselves at a loss for human civilized reasonings when certain situations arise. I define humans as being organisms who define their decisions based on logic. I call animals organisms who define their decisions based on emotion. Being that there are many times when humans behave more like animals according to my definition, especially since they're classified in the animal kingdom scientifically, I would like to know what is your personal style of decision making and Why you'd choose that style of decision making to side with.

The difference is simply that logic is more or less indifferent. It bases the answer on the probability of the best desired outcome, disattached to what one themself actually feels about the topic, more or less than to get the best probability out of the Obstacle at hand. Emotion simply means following whatever you feel to do at the moment, without thought to consequence or end result.

"No disrespect whatsoever man, this is a great discussion, but I think you have it mixed up- I think humans define their decisions based on emotion rather than logic, and animals definitely define their decisions based on logic."

I think that's a good point. Perphaps I was unclear. By Emotional, I mean running on automatic. By logical, I mean actually thinking about the situation, and reasoning it out. I can't imagine a charging bull listening to reason. It's simply using it's emotion of anger. There's no negotiation or logic involved in this. While humans, by my definition, can be negotiated down from an elevated emotional state, animals will not. When animals eat their babies It's an automatic response to fit the surivival of the other babies, not so much logical as it is instinctual. I see where you're coming from. So when I use the term emotion, just keep it in the sense of "running on automatic" and we'll be on the same page. great point.

Answer 1

Read La Rouchfoucauld's Maxims. He has some daunting things to say about how lazy we are at using reason and at how we mislabel our emotions as if they were logical.

He also has some amusing comments about how poor physical health can jar us into thinking clearly.

Answer 2

No disrespect whatsoever man, this is a great discussion, but I think you have it mixed up- I think humans define their decisions based on emotion rather than logic, and animals definitely define their decisions based on logic. Animals aren't exactly that emotional. For example, when an animal gives birth and one of the litter turns out to be a runt, the mother may eat the creature. Humans don't do this, because we are emotional. The mother animal is doing it out of logic- the runt is small and "sickly" and probably doesn't have much chance of surviving. This is instinct based on logic. It's the nature of the beast, natural selection, or what have you.

I am filled with both emotion and logic. I am rather centrist brained, so I am not more one than the other. For example, I use logic when it comes to religion- I am blissfully agnostic. Not atheist- I can't say there is no god because I have no proof that there isn't one. And I can't say there IS a god because I have no proof that there is one. Circular logic, perhaps, but it makes sense to me. I find that the older I get the more logical I become. I usually side with logic, if I agree with it. I don't totally discount emotional decisions, either, for example- if I have a bad feeling about going to a certain place or when I meet someone new, then I have to listen to my intuition. I take that kind of thing quite seriously. Maybe I am less emotional than I used to be because I am tired of being hurt, who knows? (But that's another story.) I believe our life experiences shape how we feel and think about certain things.

Answer 3

first theres a logic path that is based on trend analysis and predictions on the outcome. an action is selected. then theres a morality check, an honor check, and a necesity check. these examine the action and any laws, regulations, respect issues, etc. are examined. if they all check out good then i am OK to proceed. Bear in mind that this only deals with situations i have not encountered before. for situations i have encountered before there is a predetermined outcome that is modified to fit environmental variables of that individual situation. the animal core of my human mind is also solicited for input. many times the animal's greater sensory range is is useful. its observations are imported into the human decision making structure, giving me the best of both reasoning structures.

Answer 4

It really depends on the decision you need to make. Anything business realted should always be taken from an entirely logical conclusion (civilised reasoning) but then things like romance or sex well they can sometimes be purely scense driven. You can loose all Logic when it comes to lust. So both is my answer, Animal in Love and Human in Business.

Answer 5

I am a human that has animalistic urges from time to time.

Answer 6

What's the difference ?