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Arthanari Chandrasekaran

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What/ Whom should i listen to? Heart or Brain.

Like Keanu Reeves says in the movie Matrix, all the challenge that the human being faces narrows down to one particular phenomenon. Its the choices that we face in our everyday life and every human being becomes unique because two humans taking the same decision at every decision point through out their life seems to be impossible.

SO when we face a choice based on SOMETHING we make a decision and move on to the next step. The SOMETHING can never be finely analyzed as that will result in a matrix of information inside which we will finally be lost.

Let it be deciding what mobile to buy, deciding which girl to marry, deciding whether to take flight or train, deciding whether to shift job or not there are multitude variations of signals coming from both the heart and the brain.

How do you think we can analyze these signals and take a wise decision by considering all the signals inputs.

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    Debra Smith 200+

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    Jul 20 2012: To me this is a truly false dichotomy. We need both our head and our hearts to be in agreement to know we are doing the right thing. That dichotomy is being overcome by the current generations, I hope.

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        Fritzie Reisner 100+

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        Jul 20 2012: I propose that the two are usually working together. We do not only need both head and heart, as Debra asserts above, but we use both together in a large number, if not all, of our daily judgments.
        Some of us simply may underestimate how much those who come across as highly analytical, are using their hearts or how much those who seem highly emotional are using their heads.
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    Colleen Steen 500+

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    Jun 23 2012: Hi Arthanari,
    First, I believe it is important to know ourselves, and in so doing, we know where information is coming from. I believe it is important to listen and evaluate ALL information, so I listen and pay attention, then sift through the information.

    I listen to the heart/intuition/instinct for direction regarding which path to follow. Then use the head/brain/logical mind to determine how to follow the chosen path and/or achieve the goal.

    In my humble perception, this is why we have the ability to connect on so many levels...so we can get all the appropriate information. We are multi-sensory, multi-dimensional beings. We can allow all the information to confuse us, or we can recognize it as a gift and use it productively:>)

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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jul 20 2012: Thanks Myf E!
        I like your other comment too, and agree with you that most times, when the heart/intuition/instinct/head/logical/reasonable mind are working together are often at times of change, problem solving and creative states...times when we need all available information:>)

        As I said in my comment, I believe we can perceive it as clashing/confusing if we are not sure of ourselves and where information is coming from. Or, we can observe everything working together:>)

        I believe EVERYTHING is interconnected...we simply need to recognize it:>)
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    Verble Gherulous 20+

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    Jun 23 2012: Both. In varying degrees, at different times.

    Heart can make you jump into the deep end immediately.

    Brain can make you never jump at all.

    Both together will build you a boat to sail smoothly across.
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    Lindsay Newland Bowker 50+

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    Jun 23 2012: Arthanari,

    Isn't the goal always to act from a balance of heart, mind, will..to act and speak always from that balance?

    The fulcrum of that balance is heart centered...in our awareness of and compassion for others, for the world. Alining the will and the brain on the fulcrum of the heart keeps them always in harmony, always flowing simply without internal conflict without causing conflict in others .
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    Jedrek Stepien 10+

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    Jun 23 2012: I think it is time we finally made a synthesis of heart and brain. This is complicated but look:

    The two forces (intellect & heart) are intertwined and they obscure one another. The degree to which one dominates the other varies among different cultures, races and additionally sexes (hence misunderstandings!)

    Originally humans did not have this dilemma - they did what their instinct was telling them. Yet in the course of evolution humans have been gradually freed from the chains of instinctive behavior (Bible calls it the free will)

    Intellect have proved to be essentially a better decision-making mechanism at least from the economic point of view. Living in a blind cycle of day and night suddenly transformed into living in a continuum of time. It made possible postponing certain decisions in time, amassing wealth, and preparing for the unknown future.

    These decisions were not, of course, free from logical errors, some people paid a dear price but nevertheless the civilization developed.

    Wealth and material comfort are incredibly tempting as they promise the ultimate security so whether we like it or not, the world is and will be more and more intellectual because it means more material security. It means also that it is and will be prone to all the stupid mistakes that only human intellect is capable of.

    Now - the heart.

    The heart is the remnant of human instinct. It is better described as 'gana' and illustrated best by the Spanish phrase 'tener ganas de' which means more than 'to have a will to'. In Africa there is a country called 'Ghana' and it is exactly the same thing.

    Gana is essentially blind and therefore incapable of progress in the economic sense. If you have the 'ganas' to do something you do it. period.

    Gana has though one additional quality - it is essentialy never wrong in the sense that it cannot result in an error since it is blind and has instinct-like qualities.

    So if you ask how to judge I say: use your brain, but in dubio pro gana :)
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    Robert Winner 50+

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    Jun 23 2012: My heart says that the Cubs will win the world series this year and my brain says do not bet money on that. That is a long way of saying that it depends on what is being debated. As a bank manager I may like puffy cookies but when asked to loan them money I see they are a bad risk I must say no.

    Use the right tool for the job.

    All the best. Bob.

  • Abbas Hussain

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    Jun 22 2012: Life is All about two things.Intelligence and Feelings.You have to understand what is good and what is correct.I would suggest to make a decision based on correct rather then good.For example you have committed to your boss that you will work for 1 year mean while you get another offer with more salary and you have an idea to help the poor people with extra money you earn. honoring your promise to the boss is correct and earning more money and helping poor is Good.

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      • Abbas Hussain

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        Jul 20 2012: Yes, it's very subjective and we can change head to heart or heart to head at any time. what makes you to change, it depends. I leave it to you to think about it.
        heart= wish, likeness, love, interest.....
        Mind = profit, proud, prestige, security, risk, fear, common sense,...
        synergy of two = which you value the most.
        Correct = Go by the rules which you have accepted or created whether you like it or not. There should be not double standard. Selflessness.
        maybe Correct will create trust and security to the entire community.
        Good =self interest+ benefit for our self or others.
        If I don't have a choice for doing Correct then I should always do good.

  • Philip Crume

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    Jun 21 2012: Most people decide things emotionally and justify it later logically. It always gets people into trouble. Emotions create a fog of illusion based on biased experiences and prejudices. It's very, very hard to break through that and see reality clearly without the fog.

  • Stewart Ellis

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    Jun 21 2012: Brain, the heart doesn't talk. The brain is more important medically also.
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    E G 10+

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    Jun 21 2012: are you talking about the heart from your chest ?
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      Arthanari Chandrasekaran

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      Jun 22 2012: yeah, some call it heart, others might call it mind or soul, it depends.
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        E G 10+

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        Jun 22 2012: if you have been more specific you could have here a interesting conversation .
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          Arthanari Chandrasekaran

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          Jun 23 2012: Well to be more specific i would say that other voice which always pulls us away or against what our brain says. I don't think anybody on earth have still figured out what exactly it is.

          Our brain works on a known information source, but this other thing works based on a information source which we are not yet aware of or have continuous access to.
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        E G 10+

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        Jun 23 2012: So you say there are more 'voices' that determine us to action , one of them is the brain . I agree with you , what I'm not sure of is that 'the heart ' or 'the soul (if such a thing exist) ' are voices .

        In fact it's is not a big deal to realize that not only the brain determine us ; our feelings determine us too , our instincts .... so on . But I repeat I don't see where the heart would be in this scheme ; that's why in my opinion the heart would be the last thing to determine us to action .

        Simply said all we are determine us ; I don't think we should invent a thing like 'the heart' or ' the soul ' for the things that determine us and which we aren't aware of . We can't be aware of all what we are in any moment .

  • Barry Palmer 50+

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    Jun 21 2012: Hi Arthanari,

    How to decide? This is an excellent question, and very difficult to answer. I started writing about this for my grandchildren, and the answer is way over 2000 words and still growing, so you get the super short answer:

    Pay close attention to your heart, and temper your heart with your brain. If it is a big decision, take as much time as you can and get all the information you possibly can. It is surprising how many times a small fact pops up that instantly changes your mind. Get advice and help from people you respect and trust. In the end, you probably will not have all the information, but have to decide anyway. You will make bad decisions. Do not kick yourself for them, just learn from them.

    Hope this helps.
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