Q&A: Discussion and Reflections on Letters You Wrote
Discussion and Reflections on Letters You Wrote
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I came across your name in one of the readers’ comments on “Tzarikh Iyyun.”
Reading your writings led me to look at your article no. 22 about emotion.
1. It is not clear to me how you define or distinguish between the concepts of “value” and “principle.”
2. It is not clear to me how much you have studied the way emotions develop in human beings and how they integrate with creative and automatic (impulsive) thinking.
As I understand it, the amygdala is not the exclusive and/or only place that activates emotions.
3. In my experience, the advice you gave about the relationship between thought and emotion regarding finding a partner was not sufficiently comprehensive and could cause someone who uses it to stumble.
In my opinion, one can fulfill commandments and love through deep emotions.
I agree with you that there is “idolatry” in the public, and in my opinion far too much of it, and too many people suffer from it and err.
With blessings for all good, resilience, and health,
Answer
1. I did not understand the question. Perhaps I no longer remember (this was written years ago), but where did I distinguish between value and principle?
2. I have not studied it, and in my opinion there is no need to study it. It also makes no difference whether it is in the amygdala or somewhere else. My distinction is conceptual, not physiological. Things that are not under a person’s control have no value in them. What is under his control can have value.
3. In a conversation I conduct with a student, I do not make do with one word or one sentence. But it is always possible that I was mistaken, and I would be glad to understand where and why.
All the best,
Discussion on Answer
It is not difficult by email; it is just that in the end everything goes there anyway (without the identity of the questioner, of course), and that is burdensome.
The responsa section is intended for any question. Go out and see that the overwhelming majority of it is not questions of halakhic guidance or guidance at all.
1. The concepts seem clear enough to me. If you have any particular question, ask. I understand that the concept of “principle” was not mentioned there.
2. Mentioning the organ was just a figure of speech. It has no importance whatsoever for the argument. For me, the difference is the question of what is created by the person (through decision) and what is created spontaneously. Value is indeed a result of choice. In fact, the main choice is your values. I elaborated on this in my book “The Science of Freedom.”
3. This is not a question of what is worthwhile. It is a factual question.
Hello Rabbi, and many thanks for replying,
On a preliminary note:
As I understand it, the responsa on the site are for those seeking guidance, and I was asking to understand the source of the view.
But if that is difficult by email, I will forgo it.
1. In the discussion you wrote in publication no. 22, you discussed “emotions,” “intellect,” and “value.”
I did not see a discussion of the concept of “principle” alongside value. To understand your approach to defining the concepts, I asked.
2. Because you mentioned the organ as the source of feelings. Is not every thought and cognition, like emotion, grounded in a somatic physiological basis?
What do you think of seeing the beginning of value as stemming from choice?
3. In my opinion, in order to realize actions fully, it is worthwhile not to separate action from emotion, but rather to learn to recognize it properly.
In my opinion, one should not ignore emotion or downplay it, but connect to it, take it into account, become friendly with it, and manage it according to principles chosen in advance.
In my opinion, the physical and emotional foundations are of the highest importance, so long as they serve us and our surroundings according to chosen principles and values.
(It is written first, “And you shall love… with all your heart,” and afterward “and with all your soul.”) The Passover offering and the matzot, when prepared according to Jewish law, are eaten, chewed, and swallowed.
Many blessings,