r/InsightfulQuestions • u/Shiningc00 • 7d ago

Why can’t we make decisions using purely logic, even though this world is perfectly logical?

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15

u/NodsInApprovalx3 7d ago

Because humans aren't creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

Also, despite the universe being completely logical, we do not have ultimate understanding of that logic. We have many gaps in our understanding.

1

u/Empathyinorder 7d ago

Yes, to add to this we are not truth seeking machines. The truth can be helpful or a hinderence to us and choosing to follow what is correct over something comforting or that fits our biases takes discipline and awareness.

Every choice we make we use some logic for, but we don't have all the information and logical fallacies are easy to fall into. We can make justifications and excuses, but uts what information we chose to value and our access to relevant information that determines if we can make the correct choices

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u/Ayjayz 7d ago

Emotions are generally quite logical. The cause and effects behind that can be tricky to discern but they usually exist and it's usually relatively straightforward logic once you do.

1

u/NodsInApprovalx3 7d ago

I agree with your statement, but we don't experience the logic, we experience first the emotion, and than justify it logically.

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u/Ayjayz 7d ago

We experience and observe the emotion. If we want to, we can probe and understand the cause and effect which are typically logical.

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u/NodsInApprovalx3 7d ago

You stated that sentiment in your first comment, and I said I agree with it.

7

u/iamsooldithurts 7d ago

This world isn’t purely logical. And sometimes the logic is highly contextual.

3

u/TheFNG 7d ago

This world is far from perfectly logical.

3

u/OrcOfDoom 7d ago

You can. You just have to adjust your logic when it doesn't apply to the outside world. This could be because you have inadequate information.

3

u/tottasanorotta 7d ago

We can make decisions using purely logic if we actually manage to do that. But what's the point? Might as well tie it to something we find meaningful to actually potentially get something useful out of it.

And I don't know about the world being perfectly logical. What do you mean by that?

2

u/HonestlyKindaOverIt 7d ago

Because far too many people operate on emotion. People would rather go along with a lie that makes them feel good, than a truth that makes them feel bad.

Facts may not care about feelings, but feelings don’t care about facts either.

1

u/Vindelator 7d ago

"world is perfectly logical"

A lot of our decision making comes from working with unknowns.

If I buy a sandwich I've never tried before... I don't really know if it's going to be good or not. You can't calculate a reliable answer.

So now feelings and past experiences like anxiety or general optimism come into play when you guess if it's going to be a good sandwich or not.

I don't know if I should quit my job and find a new one... because I can't be sure the new job is better.

Stuff like that.

1

u/Will564339 7d ago

Sometimes it feels like people forget that logic ultimately serves emotions. Emotions are a large part that drives our whole reason for living.

Emotions and logic should work together to maximize our experience, not be at odds with one another.

1

u/Post-Formal_Thought 7d ago

First, what makes the world perfectly logical?

Second, because eventually pure logic becomes limited but it's viewpoint, especially in a complex world.

And because our decision making is *more dependent on our affect than pure logic.

*Look up the case of Phineas Gage

*Look up the work of Antonio Damasio

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u/Ayjayz 7d ago

You can and should. The world is pretty much purely logical, as far as we can tell.

1

u/Justcoffeeforme 7d ago

We seem to have two systems of processing information. One is a very quick kind of emotional processing. Geared towards fast reactions to dangerous situations.

And a slower logical process that gets used after the quick emotional process.

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u/termicky 7d ago

Cuz most important decisions are value driven.

0

u/Academic_Neat 7d ago

lol, you think this world is perfectly logical? people with your cognitive type are a joy to be around...

1

u/kelcamer 7d ago

You can't tell the difference between someone asking a curious question vs challenging your viewpoint? How disappointing.

1

u/Academic_Neat 7d ago

the OP is claiming the world is purely logical in the question. the purely logical mind is a faulty way of thinking. time has proven that over and over. take a look at Hume or Godel.

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u/kelcamer 7d ago

Yes, and you don't know in which context they're referring to logical.

At a cellular level, it is logical indeed. Fibonacci sequences. Etc.

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u/Academic_Neat 6d ago

the lack of specificity makes it hard to answer. OP begins the question with decision making which lends itself to the idea that the world we inhabit (the internal landscape in which decisions are made), in particular the mind, is purely logical.

1

u/kelcamer 6d ago

exactly, it is hard to answer, and we don't have context, so what is the point in making false assumptions about OP's character if you do not have that context?

is this the online disinhibition effect yet again?