Are your views influenced mostly by emotion or reason?

[Canaore]

Humans are emotional creatures, our emotions have been honed to perfection through evolution, with reason much more recent on the scene. Despite our unique capacity to apply complex reasoning, emotion tends to overtake us with relative ease. In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions, a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory, in which logic plays only a supporting role. It is impossible to deny that most of the time, emotions play a big role in politics.

So, I ask you, NSG? I'm sure most will say they didn't aquire their views emotionally, but please, be honest with yourselves and others. Have you sometimes brushed off well-established facts that collide with your worldview as nonsense? Has something bad that happened to yourself, country or family made you think the way you do, without bothering to check facts? If so, then it's safe to say emotion plays a big role in your political worldview. As for me, I have no shame in admitting my views — especially on social issues — have been greatly influenced by events and emotions.

[The New Sea Territory]

Initially by emotion, I was a anti-gay Christian conservative. Now, by reason, I am a open bisexual, Dudeist and anarchist without adjectives.

[Conserative Morality]

By emotion, no doubt, on most if not all issues. My belief in the power of the State, in the righteousness of the masses...

[The Liberated Territories]

Always emotion. Reason doesn't exist in my mind.

[Transyl]

Reason, definitely. I usually try to avoid emotion until I can't hold it back anymore. I am used to people rejecting my emotions, so I keep them hidden away and only listen to reason.

[Cannot think of a name]

If you agree with me, logic. If you disagree with me emotion. Judging from reactions.

[Montabaur]

Usually by reason. However, if someone is stubborn or are simply arguing an ill-informed point, I can get annoyed and emotional when trying to convey my ideas.

[Forsher]

My emotions are reasonable. There are never any inconvenient facts. Not really... usually there's substantial lag before a rare errant fact causes viewpoint change.

[Trevor Phillip Enterprises]

Everyone would say "reason" and accuse their opponents of using "emotion" to based their "flawed" ideologies. What do you expect to get out of this thread.

BTW I totally run on complete and accurate reason, everyone else is controlled by their base emotions...

[Forsher]

If you agree with me, logic. If you disagree with me emotion. Judging from reactions.

You've promoted a half-eaten, possibly foreign born and halal, pizza for US president...

[Kelinfort]

Reason.

[Informationland]

My views are completely influenced by reason.

[Conserative Morality]

Everyone would say "reason" and accuse their opponents of using "emotion" to based their "flawed" ideologies. What do you expect to get out of this thread.

Some of us admit to it. With only pure reason there are only conclusions - no values. You can't make an ideology out of that. You can't get a single view out of that. The question is in what proportions we mix and match reason and emotion.

[Norstal]

By emotion, no doubt, on most if not all issues. My belief in the power of the State, in the righteousness of the masses...

That's surprising. You always defended your view with some logical reasoning.

[Furry Alairia and Algeria]

My personal political visions are kept by emotion and without regards to reason to times, but what I say is what is reasonable.
You could probably say I run two separate lives, one run by emotion, another run by reason.
Regardless, the two equally influence my opinions, public and private.

[Ripoll]

I don't think I've ever taken a stance that was purely based off of emotion unless it was a social issue that doesn't really require reasoning in the first place.

Other than that, mostly reason, statistical analysis, and history.

[Forsher]

By emotion, no doubt, on most if not all issues. My belief in the power of the State, in the righteousness of the masses...

That's surprising. You always defended your view with some logical reasoning.

I find itvworks like this.

Firstly, you adopt a position based on an emotional conviction.

Secondly, you then acquire some reasoning to defend the position.

Thirdly, you then pretend that you reached your position through reasoning.

[Conserative Morality]

That's surprising. You always defended your view with some logical reasoning.

Of course, I use evidence to defend my conclusions. My views are based on emotion, though. I didn't sit down and reason myself into believing into liberty and justice and all that jazz. I have emotional attachments to those concepts - specific positions springing from such values may be supported by or created out of logic, but the basis is always, always emotion.

[Conserative Morality]

I don't think I've ever taken a stance that was purely based off of emotion unless it was a social issue that doesn't really require reasoning in the first place.

Other than that, mostly reason, statistical analysis, and history.

"There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies, and statistics."

[Conserative Morality]

I find itvworks like this.

Firstly, you adopt a position based on an emotional conviction.

Secondly, you then acquire some reasoning to defend the position.

Thirdly, you then pretend that you reached your position through reasoning.

I rather think the it's possible to base a worldview broadly on emotion while reaching positions on specific emotions via reason applied with the values and emotions you hold influencing it.

[Galloism]

Generally speaking, I feel that my positions are based on logic. Without logic, we are hopeless, doomed! DOOMED!

[The Lotophagi]

Emotion. Lurching from one impulse to another is the only real way to live life, really.

[Thalasus]

OP: It depends. There's certainly good things to be said for both. Gimme scenarios?

On a side note: Logic works for optimism ("There are more people and more cool things and less people dying and more culture and more science then ever before! Sure, there's the environment and terrorism and violence and whatnot but that's tiny in the history of awesome we're gonna make!") While emotion is great at getting people pissed off or in despair ("There are some evil fucking people here: racist cops, ISIS soldiers, bastard politicians and businessmen. The environments going to shit: we've already fucked up the ozone layer... you're next, forests of the world... GOD DAMN IT THE WORLDS GONNA DIE"

[Sebastianbourg]

Usually by reason but at times emotion steps in an overpowers reason.

[Kazirstan]

Definitely reason. Emotion rarely plays a role in any decision I make, let alone my political views, I've given it a lot of thought and can say that honestly. Unfortunately, that means I tend to overthink pretty much everything.