I’m not a very well educated person in this field, but if I may:
I see my various squishy feelings (desires and what-is-right intuitions are in this list) as loyal pets. Sometimes, they must be disciplined and treated with suspicion, but for the most part, they are there to please you in their own dumb way. They’re no more enemies than one’s preference for foods. In my care for them, I train and reward them, not try to destroy or ignore them. Without them, I have no need to DO better among other people, because I would not be human—that is, some things are important only because I’m a barely intelligent ape-man, and they should STAY important as long as I remain a barely intelligent ape-man. Ignoring something going on in one’s mind, even when one KNOWS it is wrong, can be a source of pain, I’ve found—hypocrisy and indecision are not my friends.
Hope I didn’t make a mess of things with this comment.
I’m not a very well educated person in this field, but if I may:
I see my various squishy feelings (desires and what-is-right intuitions are in this list) as loyal pets. Sometimes, they must be disciplined and treated with suspicion, but for the most part, they are there to please you in their own dumb way. They’re no more enemies than one’s preference for foods. In my care for them, I train and reward them, not try to destroy or ignore them. Without them, I have no need to DO better among other people, because I would not be human—that is, some things are important only because I’m a barely intelligent ape-man, and they should STAY important as long as I remain a barely intelligent ape-man. Ignoring something going on in one’s mind, even when one KNOWS it is wrong, can be a source of pain, I’ve found—hypocrisy and indecision are not my friends.
Hope I didn’t make a mess of things with this comment.