Ace of Spades

Were the world only black and white, my heart would be pitch, so it would stand in stark contrast to the self-righteous white mind. (If the only thought which came to mind was race, do not read any further. This post is not for you.)

Sadly, it is the definition of heart.

the emotional or moral as distinguished from the intellectual nature: as

a :  generous disposition :  compassion <a leader with heart>

b :  love, affection <won her heart>

c :  courage, ardor <never lost heart>

Every time I mention heart, I am met by a softening of the eyes, a tilt or bowing of the head and a crooked, knowing, nostalgic smile. It makes me want to slap someone back into the conversation.

Love, in its sticky-sweet, greeting-card, promises-you-do-not-intend-to-keep manifestation, is not the only affair of the heart. Clearly, it is only one connotation, albeit not the first or last. It is the same commercial confusion associated with the word romantic.

For centuries, society has attempted to claim morality as intellectual, when in fact it is anything but. Right and wrong dwell in the heart, as they have no reason; they simply are for their own sakes. When deciding if something is right, we “follow our hearts” for a reason. To sit and parse situations for why they are right and wrong would lead to a meltdown because the mind is contaminated with the beliefs and demands of every person we have ever encountered and our hearts’ reactions to their actions.

newton3Heart is often maligned as reactionary. The broken heart produces sadness. The hard heart produces contempt. The soft heart produces compassion. The large heart produces empathy. The kind heart produces charity. Guilty: All of those emotions are reactions. What of when the heart is courageous?

Active hearts produce change. The natural flow of passion (ardor) sweeps away the weak-willed, convinces the doubtful and sets the world ablaze so ashes can fertilize an otherwise barren field. The courageous heart is often contagious, even when it is wrong.

Oxymoron? Hardly. For all its strength, the heart is fallible. It has faith. It never dreams it will be the equal and opposite force. It never realizes it is drawn to the opposite by another law of physics, magnetism.

Stop the Press

What does “even when it is wrong” mean?

Wrong is relative. Remember, right and wrong are residents of the heart. Neither are finite concepts which are universally accepted. Neither can be proven or disproved. Neither is immutable or permanent.

The only thing constant is change.

The only thing constant is change.

History shows us this over and over. What was once taboo becomes the norm. What was once status quo comes to be condemned as uncivilized. Ergo, the logic holds wrong is not any more finite than right.

Further, our present holds the standard for the impermanence of right and wrong. If right were universal, we would have no need for laws or governance. Each of us would innately do right. For every right you can find, there is an application where it is wrong. What is right for you, could be fatally wrong for someone else. What is wrong to me, may be perfectly right for someone else.

The black and white of heart and mind is suddenly neither black nor white.

Back to Black

The passion and conviction with which we pursue our right is definitive. While one person’s passion burns brightly for a short time and is extinguished, others’ passions are the standards by which they live their lives. Those passions are stark black lines defining who they are, what they believe, why they act and how they live.

“Were the world only black and white, my heart would be pitch, so it would stand in stark contrast to the self-righteous white mind.”

How is it the mind gets to be the white we associate with right and good? Because it absents itself from the emotions of the heart and produces logic at the highest proficiency possible. The mind works in immutable laws, facts and principles (not to be confused with morals). It gauges propriety based on its experience with society.

Therein lies the problem. Our interactions with others irrevocably change the way we view everything. When we divorce ourselves from others’ opinions and reactions we are true to ourselves. A poignant example of this is our reaction to pictures.

Manhattan 11SEP01

Virginia Elizabeth Dwyer grave marker

baby sucking fingers

Before the mind pollutes our natural reaction, we are infused with the right reaction. Even before the feeling fades, the mind interjects the reasoned response to supplant our right reaction. It is, by definition, opposite. The opposite of right is wrong.

Magnetism explains the attraction of opposites. The contrast of the two provides us a reference to judge each on its merits.

Hold It!

Not every product of the mind is entirely wrong. In largest part, our minds are tempered by our own reactions. The key is giving our hearts more weight than the hearts of those outside our skin, which the mind represents.

No, this is not the equivalent of being selfish. In most cases, our hearts empathize with the other members of the human race and most of the animals and plants who share this piece of space debris on which we live. Our hearts recognize the immense network of support created by our ecology, even if our minds deny its existence in favor of believing self-reliance. At heart, very few of us would intentionally do those things which would cause others (human or otherwise) harm because doing so would invariably harm ourselves.

The question becomes How many of my reactions are the mind’s white muddying the black of the heart?

It is a tough question.

Were the world only black and white, my heart would be pitch, so it would stand in stark contrast to the self-righteous white mind.”

For now, I still am logically

Red Signature


Can you answer the heart vs. mind question? Why does society push morality as an intellectual pursuit? Can you give one of the reasons society favors the mind over the heart?

Hashtags: #rightandwrong #heart #psychology

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15 Comments

  1. Red,

    Rather than using a word that would lend itself to unfortunate resonance, I’ll say, again….

    Well done. Or, as previously noted, bloody brilliant….

    xxx + ooo

    gigoid,the dubious

    😎
    gigoid recently posted..Thirteen metric tons of bio-hazardous waste? How droll….My Profile

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  2. Interesting thoughts! 🙂

    I follow a simple rule: Live well, love often and be happy.

    Everything is either a bonus or a waste – I prefer it to be a bonus! 🙂

    Love and huge hugs!

    Prenin.
    prenin recently posted..Wednesday – Medication Day.My Profile

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  3. One of the reasons society favors the mind over the heart is that far too many people use the human-mind-based philosophies of the world to give them license to do as they please, and assuage the innate feeling of guilt when they do what the heart knows is wrong.

    Reply
  4. I would say I favour the mind and logic over emotion, but certainly people can use their intellect to justify what they do and to tell themselves that it is right.

    (This page refused to load the style sheet for some reason.)

    Reply
  5. Society is far more comfortable if logic defines ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ clearly and can reproduce action based on those definitions.

    That is the simple answer.

    Reply
  6. As crazy as it is, some people can justify any act whether it be insanely diverse, or incredibly OTT normal, which I guess is easier to comprehend.

    The darker elements of society that feed on evil deeds and act out their agendas without care are the justifiers of unbelievable acts that shock the world and create confusion at every turn.

    The differences between good and evil and the mind-sets that decide one over the other vary greatly, undeniably with each one creating a reality to suit it’s own purpose.

    Right and wrong are clearly observed but more often than not the wrong decisions are made over and over again.

    I have enjoyed reading this posting Red, it certainly conjures up lots of different thoughts, all to be read thoroughly and digested.

    Andro xxxx

    Reply
    • There is always a buffet of thought, Andro. Indeed, justifying is the behavior which segregates the “right” from the “wrong”, often wrongly.
      xxxx

      Reply
  1. Bust it up, boys! It’s all gotta go!…. | gigoid

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