Reason or Emotion: Who's in Charge?

No one is perfect, no system is perfect; a great many people are untrustworthy because are dishonest, and really only seek their own interests. But the world is also full of honest, mostly straight-forward men and women whom one can trust. One can only find out who is trustworthy through experience.

“Disputes between men pertinaciously obstinate in their principles are the most irksome. The same blind adherence to their own arguments is to be expected in both; the same contempt of their antagonists; and the same passionate vehemence in enforcing sophistry and falsehood and, as reasoning is not the source from whence either disputant derives his tenets, it is in vain to expect that any logic, which speaks not to the affections, will ever engage him to embrace sounder principles.” (Hume, eh?)

...at $1.50 each, would have been $15.00. But we were able to combine them, and use four of the large capacity washers at $2.50 each, for a total of $10.00. That was employing reason with no reference to emotion.

A few years ago, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio made a groundbreaking discovery. He studied people with damage in the part of the brain where emotions are generated. He found that they seemed normal, except that they were not able to feel emotions. But they all had something peculiar in common: they couldn’t make decisions. They could describe what they should be doing in logical terms, yet they found it very difficult to make even simple decisions, such as what to eat. Many decisions have pros and cons on both sides—shall I have the chicken or the turkey? With no rational way to decide, these test subjects were unable to arrive at a decision.

So at the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion.

But, ya see, there never is any conflict. #2 IS #1

So at the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion. (emphasis added)

I personally abhor universal statements of this kind

Abstract
A revolution in the science of emotion has emerged in the last few decades, with the potential to create a paradigm shift in thinking about decision theories. The research reveals that emotions constitute powerful, pervasive, and predictable drivers of decision making. Across different domains, important regularities appear in the mechanisms through which emotions influence judgments and choices. The present paper organizes and analyzes what has been learned from the past 35 years of work on emotion and decision making. It also proposes an integrated model of decision making that accounts for both traditional (rational-choice theory) inputs and emotional inputs, synthesizing scientific findings to date.

Not agreeing or disagreeing with this, just sharing: http://bigthink.com/experts-corner/decisions-are-emotional-not-logical-the-neuroscience-behind-decision-making

Normally and unfortunately reason serves emotion and not the other way around. Please note that I am not against emotions but against gratuitous "emotioning".

That makes sense. Reason can't tell you what you want. It can help you find the best way to get it.

I've been thinking about this since i first responded, and i find Hume's claim even more hilariously wrong-headed. We employ our reason again and again without reference to "passions," to emotion. We went to the laudromat yesterday, and had about ten loads for the regular machines, which a $1.50 each, would have been $15.00. But we were able to combine them, and use four of the large capacity washers at $2.50 each, for a total of $10.00. That was employing reason with no reference to emotion.

Tuna, you erect straw man fallacies again and again and again. I didn't tell you not to trust reason.

I sometimes wonder why i bother to respond to your threads.