The Heart and Mind

The following piece was written after hearing Rush Limbaugh rant that unless your Heart and Mind are in lockstep with one another, nothing concrete can ever be accomplished. I decided to explore that thought in a mathematical sense, using the old Postulate and Theorem approach. The following is a result of that exercise.

Postulate: That the Heart and Mind need be connected and in lockstep in feeling and thought in order to achieve coherent or productive thoughts and actions. (ie: Results)

Theorem: That a disconnect of Heart and Mind leads to inaction and internal conflict resulting in non-productivity, or worse, a wrong course of action, or even inaction.

Proof: (Actually I am going to disprove both the Postulate and the Theorem.)

The Heart and Mind are separated for a reason. One keeps the other in check and allows us to explore the Theorem in an objective manner. Each acts as a conscience to the other in order to “check” bad behavior or reckless actions based on errors of our own thinking.

For example: Raising kids. Your kid has wrecked the car – again.  You feel like killing him for it.  But, in your Heart you feel it is the right thing to do. Your Mind tells you no, it’s wrong, and therefore keeps your passion in check.

Conversely: You love your child and know, in your mind, the child needs to be disciplined. Your heart breaks as you do what is considered necessary to rear your child properly, though your Intellect tells you that you are acting in a responsible manner.

So, if your Heart and Mind were ever in lockstep there would be no checks or balances on your actions. Everything you say and do would be deemed; in your Heart and Mind; to be permissible; indeed, even necessary.

History is full of instances of this sort, and all were basically intolerant at best, and horrific in their worst incarnations.

Conclusion: Both the Postulate and the Theorem are wrong. The Mind and Heart, operating in tandem would preclude any real self-examination since the conclusion would have already been drawn that your actions are correct. You cannot lose an argument with yourself when your Heart and Mind are joined.

I suppose that if your Heart and Mind were united on a good thing, that would be an exception. But who can say that they can be trusted to label something good without any internal self-examination of the motives and principles involved in making a decision when it affects others? And isn’t self-examination, by necessity; a division of the Heart and Mind?

Let me know what you think.