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

Procedural vs. Declarative Knowledge in A.I.

Declarative memory is the memory of facts (semantic memory) and events (episodic memory). Procedural memory is the memory of how to do things (skills and tasks). Both complement each other and often overlap. The distinction is not the same as between conceptual and non-conceptual knowledge. Though related, these categories describe different aspects of knowledge processing: Read the full article…

Mere-Ego ≠ Egoism

Mere-ego creates a narrowed sense of self, which can make egoism more tempting, but it does not automatically lead to selfishness. By shifting from mere-ego to the total self, one naturally moves away from grasping, fear, and competition — toward inner abundance, connection, and the joy of Compassion. Let’s explore how this shift changes everything. Read the full article…

40. The Tough Concept of ‘Acceptance’

‘Acceptance’ has two different meanings. One leads to helplessness. The other leads to self-sufficiency. Once it was commonplace: People had to learn to accept chronic pain (and suffering in general) by the will of God, willingly or unwillingly. People had to ‘learn to live with it.’ In an era where there were no painkillers, people Read the full article…

Translate »