head or heart?
 

If you had to just choose one to listen to for the rest of your life, which would it be? Would you choose your head, always think rationally and figure which would work better after you weighed the consequences. Or would you follow your heart, even though it might not be the rational thing, you would always have love.

I'll give my answer later on...just curious

I'd pick head (hehe, hmhm, he said "head"). Ahem, sorry. I pretty much use my head for making decisions now, much more so than my heart. And before anyone asks, no I am not some cold, emotionless robot. I just happen to be a guy, and I think that we mostly use logic over emotion. Mostly. :D

I think i would probably use both...I mean heart means alot.... But it dosnt pay off in the longer or the short run to be stupid...

I pay very little attention to my emotions. As far as I'm concerned they are no way to steer a course through anything.

I'd have to pick head, but I think it's just as foolish to always listen to your head as it is to always listen to your heart.

I would also say head. I would rather be rational and cold than emotional and stupid. That being said, I think that emotions should factor into decisions but not to the point where you are thinking with your heart.

I believe there are times to use your head and times to use your heart. I don't believe it is wise to use one or the other at all times, there must be a balance, not randomly, but dependant on the position you are presented with.

Im gonna jump on the bandwagon and say head. Funny. In real life I'm rarely even close to stoic...

If the heart is guided by morality then I would say the heart. There is something off with both extremes thou- honestly. There is much more to life than emotions and heart. Duty. Honor. Value. Faith. Beleif.
All of these I would hesitate to classify under either logic or emotion.

I'm not sure my question came off right. I would choose my heart though. I mean, if you really listen to it it doesn't lie, right? Think about a situation, like you're in a relationship. Things are rough, your head says end it and your heart says don't. Which do you listen to? (in this example I'm not referring to some fucked up relationship that's abusive or anything)

In that case I think my heart and head would soon be unanimous and I'd be out of that relationship pretty quick. Your heart might not lie but it also won't give you all the options. You might be happier if you listened to your head.

This line of questioning is very much grounded in the western philosophical belief in the seperation of mind and body. I'm not much to believe in the disembodied mind...

I have a hard time trying to answer this question, even understanding its metaphorical implication (choosing reason or emotion) because I feel so grounded in my body. Typically, I <i>feel</i> a decision is good when it agrees with my reasonable sensibilities.

I've listened to the blaring intellect of my mind for over 21 years. I'm happy with the way I am now, but if I had to make a choice, I'd abandon my intelligence and go back to the sweet, caring, loving child I used to be and leave my cynical, jaded adult mind in the dirt.

My emotions are so powerful that listening to them in regards to decision-making can/will/have only lead to trouble. Therefore, my mind is my constant resource .....

Choose the course with your head... and support it with all of your heart.

It would not be possible to live a life without both of them.

Without the heart, there is no reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Without the head there is no way to figure out how to get out of bed in the morning.

Nice point, CSflim. I've always like the analogy of a garden. The head may be the gardener, but the heart is the flowers.

I hate to sound like a jerk but this is "Philosophy" meaning the question does not have to be realistic. I'm pretty sure the person who started this thread realized we need both to survive, but the question is if you only had one choose it.

I choose the heart, as without it life is not worthwhile and we are mearly machines.

I'd pick my head... Emotions can make us do very stupid things, but when we think rationally and logically we're more likely to make wiser decisions.

If I misinterpreted the idea behind the question, and it is meant unrealistically...then I would agree with you 100%, without heart, there is no reason to live.

The heart dosen't have a brain. I'll pick the head.

heart, of course.

I don't see this question as viable, theyre connected, and without either we would not be. It's like asking, would you rather be without the engine to a car, or the tires? Well without either you cannot use it for transportation so what is the point in asking such a question? (assuming youre not selling the engine or tires :rolleyes: )

Heart. I will always go with the heart. Unfortunately, sometimes this might not have been the smartest thing to do - so my mind is what I use to work my way out of it.

I would say head, but what if I develop incurable brain cancer? Then I wouldn't be following anything, what a disaster. Or would it automatically default to my heart?

Could I choose to follow my penis for the rest of my life, and just hump everything that moves? That might be nice. At least until I end up in prison for raping Lindsay Lohan. Ugh, I wouldn't want to follow my penis in prison, that would not end well.

Due to some extreme situations when I was a kid I decided that emotions could only cause pain and worked for several years to "ban" emotions from my life. It seemed to work well for me, except I couldn't relate to anyone else, so it caused some difficulty in relationships with family and my wife. (FYI, telling your wife that you married not for love but because the of a "pros and cons" list doesn't make for a romantic evening)So for the last five or six years I've been trying to re-introduce emotions into my life. It's tough, I still have a hard time respecting something as arbitary as emotions. Still if I had to choose just one, I'd choose my head over heart.....in a heart beat.

Never mind, no answer from me. Too complex a question. :)

Wait, wait wait wait. You did a pros and cons and still decided to get married? Were you marrying the richest woman on the planet without a prenup?

Marriage is a total scam. Why would you enter into a binding contractual obligation that can do nothing but financially fuck you later on?

Following my heart, (my feelings) in my opinion, is not the way to make the healthiest choices for my life. I would most definitely choose my head, and give my heart to the ones who love me, and whom I love.

Just because I make rational decisions, doesn't mean I can't truly express and experience love. In fact, in my opinion, the most fullfilling and healthy love is selected in this way. ;)

Perhaps when approached in a selfish and immature manner, marriage is difficult and painful.

In my experience though, it has been nothing but beneficial. We both have like ideas in regards to the things we hold important. We have known each other for ten years and been married for seven, in that time we have never had an argument. We've had occasional disagreements but never anything serious or that lasted longer than ten minutes. The way I see it, two people pursuing similar goals togather is a lot more effective and logical than doing so individually.

The head definatley. The heart doesn't always see clearly.

I think that if i were to steer my life with my heart, not only would I be complete mess with no direction...i would also not necessarily always share love with someone. It would be a mess of unfulfilled crushes.

I think as men we should go with our heads until we fall in love and get married. Then we should just go with her woman's intuition. We will have lost our heads and heart by that time anyway.

I try to be as balanced in my life as possible. For most of my life I've been more of a head person. Always thinking, and usually overthinking things. But I've realized over time that my heart or gut is usually right more, it's just a matter of when I decide to listen to it. In my last couple of long term relationships, I probably knew in my gut very early on that they weren't "the ones" and that we'd fail, but I ignored that feeling. I worked on things. Thought about things in different ways. Worked as hard as I could to make my own reality, but in the end, the gut is always right. If I have a strong urge or hunch to try or do something, I'll usually think of a reason not to. But everytime I don't listen to my head, I end up being the happiest or in the right place. It's odd. So, I guess my point is you definitely need both to be balanced, but if everyone listened and followed their heart/gut/instinct more, I think the world would be happier.

There's a late night thought for you. I hope it makes sense.

I'd rather use both, but if I'd have to choose, it would be my head.
I'd prefer logical, rational thought to emotional passion, because clear thinking usually leads to better results. And perhaps the head can simulate the benefits of the heart?

I see no seperation, my logic is just an analytical justifaction for my emotions.

all you need is love
all you need is love
all you need is loove loove

heart for me :D

I choose head, just like Coppertop, except that I AM a cold, emotionless robot. Let me note that one of the symptoms of being a cold emotionless robot, is not caring that one is cold, emotionless robot :)

I choose head. heart is good but the phrase "nice guys finish last" comes to mind. I feel like you would get further in life with the head than the heart.....

unfortunately!

If I had to pick just one, I'd pick head.
I've already gone with the heart alone, and it's landed me in a world of trouble.