No Rationality without Poetry

October 17, 2018 Cognitive Insights, Open Religion No Comments

Rationality without poetry (‘depth’) is meaningless. Moreover: it’s not even rational. Thus, better call it ‘rationality’ (between brackets).

[see: ‘AURELIS USP: ‘100% Rationality, 100% Depth’]

Rationality is not only about concepts

Of course, conceptual thinking is of huge importance. No doubt. However, through correct conceptual thinking, one can arrive at its own limits:

  • 100% conceptual thinking – apart from mathematics, arguably – is not humanly possible. [see: ‘About Concepts’]
  • There is a realm of reality that cannot be fully conceptually grasped. [see: ‘About ‘Subconceptual’]

Rationality is – by definition – about taking into account reality as a whole. Thus, the borders of conceptuality are not the borders of rationality.

Think ‘poetry’ (in general, not only poems). Rationality is also about this.

Do you think poetry exists?

Well then: poetry is precisely beyond conceptuality. This is even why it exists.

Thus:

One should not equivocate ‘rationality’ with ‘getting rid of poetry’.

Half a rationality is no rationality at all.

‘Getting rid of poetry’ is only what it directly means: ‘getting rid of’. I hope, dear reader, that you don’t abuse rationality for such a meager endeavor.

Nevertheless, I do see it being abused this way

even by people who are otherwise rational.

This abuse is plainly not rational. The result is irrationality. Because this may nevertheless seem so close to rationality, let’s put the term ‘rationality’ between brackets to denote a lack of poetry inside:

Rationality MINUS poetry IS ‘rationality’.

Unfortunately, ‘rationality’ is a huge source of dividedness, worldwide.

People who value poetry and see ‘rationality’ being used as an instrument for abusing the same, may turn away from rationality (without brackets) altogether.

Simply put, they:

  1. equivocate rationality with ‘rationality’
  2. see the abuse of poetry through ‘rationality’
  3. turn away from rationality.

How pitiful is this?

And with huge consequences…

Specifically, I see as one of the most appalling consequences: many people (+/- 6 billion, more precisely) are stuck between one’s own deeply felt – and valuable – religious feelings and the necessity to believe in some Santa Claus stuff.

Because ‘rationality’ cannot manage depth, eventually depth has mainly irrational outlets…

It’s even worse if ‘rational’ people point their finger to depth as source of irrationality.

The source of course is multi-faceted, including ‘rationality’.

Intercultural divides. Intra-cultural divides.

What a waste!

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Consciousness & Communication

Why and how has consciousness emerged? One take on this: intra- as well as extracranial communication. Why = how Organic life is not the product of an engineer who starts with the question of why he should build something, then proceeds with how he can achieve his goals. Organic life evolves from instance to instance, Read the full article…

Hypothesis Formation

To form a hypothesis is to reach toward meaning through uncertainty. Even rigorous science, at its best, starts with the ‘art of listening to what the universe is trying to say.’ Hypothesis formation begins as an intuition — a recognition that something might be true, though not yet proven. From there, it unfolds through imagination, Read the full article…

Lisa’s Humor in Coaching

Here are ten features that guide Lisa’s way of using humor in coaching, each contributing to a supportive, transformative coaching experience. Each of these ten features reflects how humor can foster growth, connection, and insight. This blog is part of a trilogy on humor. For context and depth, see The Subtle Art of Humor in Read the full article…

Translate »