How do you make your decisions, with logic or with emotion? Is thinking or feeling more important to you?
Share why if you wish.
Thinker Or Feeler?
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
How do you make your decisions, with logic or with emotion? Is thinking or feeling more important to you?
Share why if you wish.
Yeah, I’ll admit it. I wear my heart on my sleeve. And because of that, My opinions are often dismissed as being reactive and emotionally charged.
I get that. But here’s the thing; two things, in fact:
1. I endeavor to follow up my emotional reaction with research. If I then determine that my feels are well supported by facts, I feel them even more strongly, and put them out there without hesitation.
2. I have been disappointed to find that making decisions based on feeling is increasingly looked down on, as if it is an invalid way to work in the world. I, on the other hand, have become distrustful of thinking as the sole means of decision making, mostly because I find it to easy to take compassion out of that equation. And we are surely lacking in compassion these days.
On the gripping hand: while my first inclination is to respond to my feelings, I know it’s important to know facts and think through repercussions, too. I would hope that those who are more inclined to think their way through a decision would find it important to acknowledge feeling and perception and compassion in the process. That could result in deeply balanced, thoughtful and compassionate action that leads to stronger community and understanding.
I used to be a thinker, but (in what I equate to a major event happening in my life) I became a feeler. It was strange going through the change. But I usually come to the same decision on things as I believe I would have as a thinker. It’s just that my rationale has changed.
My initial reaction is always emotional, but then I stop to think before actually making any decisions
I wonder if this is more about order than preference. I believe feelings express our values and thinking expresses our ideas. Maybe some people test their value-based reactions against ideas, and other people test ideas against their values. If a person isn’t doing both, I see that as a formula for trouble.
If it is just a question or order rather than preference, it might parallel how introverts think first to figure out what they want to say and extroverts talk first in order to figure out what they think.
Having said all that, I realize I ducked the question. So, to answer it, when I was younger, I was much more thinking than feeling. I believe now the two happen more or less simultaneously. I will generally either be clear about both at the same time or confused about both at the same time.
Years ago I took the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator and it showed me as a feeler. I took it again several years later with the same result. I’m not sure why you asked the question, but more recently I took the Clifton Strengths-finder and highly recommend it to others. It will tell you things about yourself that you never knew. At least, it did for me.
For me, it’s important to know your strengths so that you can stop beating your head against the wall, doing something that doesn’t suit you. The Clifton Strength Finder has helped me see my top 5 strengths, and it’s helped me to choose where to put my limited time and effort.