When Reason Meets Emotion

September 18, 2024

David Scharf, CCA president

In this situation I was able to use logic (perhaps somewhat flawed logic, but nonetheless) to overcome my fears and emotions.

We often think that there are two types of people: those who favor the hard cold logic of the intellect and those who prefer to rely on the emotion-laden pathways used by intuition.

So which is the better approach? This is an age-old debate to be sure, and I won’t get into the philosophical perspectives of Plato and Plotinus (the father of Neoplatonism) except to note that there are different interpretations of what their thoughts and feelings are on this topic. Rather, let’s see what the modern-day chess world has to say about this.***  Now chess is a game, perhaps the ultimate game, that we think of as rewarding logic and calculation. Yet, Magnus Carlson, Norwegian chess grandmaster, considered by many as the greatest of all time, often mentions how he is not the greatest “calculator” but rather relies on intuition.****  On the other hand, players who are considered great “calculators”, while certainly of high ranking, cannot encroach on the top players.  Or to put it in Star Trek terms, there is a reason why Captain Kirk is captain and Mr. Spock is not.*****

As actuaries, we often think that we lean towards logic and calculation. However, this way of thinking can make us vulnerable to undetected bias. While we assume that emotions inherently have bias, there can also be bias in our logic, where it is often more difficult to detect, especially if we are not looking for it. In reality, we are not just pure logicians, but use a mixture of reason and intuition: our intuition is informed by logic, and it is logical to reflect our intuition and account for our emotions. 

So what is the right answer to this age-old question? That will be different for each person. We are at our best when we allow space for both to interplay – where reason meets emotion – in proper proportions. Our greatest challenge then is to get the balance right!

*For those interested in the history of flight and in the earliest attempts at ballooning, see my blog post from last month “Where Have All The Polymaths Gone?”.

**There is indeed a long association between ballooning and champagne; however, that tradition does not include the pilot drinking champagne before safely landing us!

***For a clever take using chess as a metaphor for life, watch the episode “Checkmate” from Patrick McGoohan’s 1967 masterpiece, The Prisoner; and for more on The Prisoner, see my June 3, 2024 blog post “ The Space Between”.  For a lyrical metaphor, listen to the third song on my “recommended soundtrack” above (Yes, “I’ve Seen All Good People”). 

****For an interesting read on this, see blogger Roaring Pawn’s article, “Carlsen, Tal, Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, All in Unison: Chess is About Intuition”, dated August 3, 2020 (retrieved September 17, 2024 from chess.com).

*****This becomes readily apparent in episodes where Spock takes over as captain in Kirk’s absence.