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  1. I have no problem with intuitive understanding! I rely on it quite a bit. My issue is more with someone lashing out in thoughtless anger as a form of self-defense — that’s not helpful.

    That being said, I really need to write a calmer and more rational recap on this Firestarter. It’s embarrassingly self-congratulatory! :)

  2. I agree that it is valuable to be able present a reasoned argument in support of one’s views.

    However, I would not discount the value of emotion in how many people come to their views. Often that emotion is the product of a synthesis of life experience and peripheral facts that inform a person’s judgement.

    Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink” is one book that talks about how our brain makes incredibly important decisions based on partial data. Often the brain makes a correct decision that would have been impossible to work out out logically; the facts available at the moment are too limited so the person supplements them with all of their experience in order to come to a conclusion. And that experience includes their emotions.

    This isn’t to say logical argument isn’t a valid form of reasoning. It is to say that people often don’t have the time, or all of the facts, to reach a fully logical conclusion, so they use shortcuts like experience and emotion to make decisions.

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