If we always HAD to think “rationally” we may NEVER decide. It is just too time consuming and mind boggling to sit around always considering all your options, all the possibilities and all their consequences. Therefore, our emotions or “gut feelings”, intuition, common sense, “vibes” or vibrations and situational ethics, all take over to settle or end the decision making process.
None of the aforementioned emotional characteristics have anything much to do with rational thought except in helping to guide our decision making process along. Dealing with day to day affairs more emotionally instead of rationally, makes life much simpler to deal with. In a sense it is an emotional shortcut.
By and large, rational thought in its purest form is left primarily to the scientists. The rest of us live more emotionally, moment to moment, preferring to worry about any possible consequences later. No one really likes to admit that they have a problem thinking things through rationally or reasonably.
Furthermore, it is possible that Americans are more reliant on emotional thinking patterns compared to other cultures. Additionally, to challenge someone’s THINKING process, thinking habits or their “thinking”, in general, can be intimidating, even provoking.
So, how do you come to a balanced decision and consider things fairly? Accept the mental challenge of the “thinking” process versus the “emoting” process, never jump to conclusions and never assume anything. To challenge someone’s thinking patterns CAN be a friendly, fruitful exercise IF folks would just NOT feel so threatened by this mental challenge. Unfortunately, few of us can accept the criticism well without getting angry, defensive or taking it all too personal.
Reason often may not breed clarity like you would like to believe but instead can lead to numerous irreconcilable contradictions between differing opinions. Reason does NOT settle questions but raises questions.