The Dangers of Emotions
Have you ever read a story or seen a movie where a character or some characters do something dumb because they were swayed by lies? In those situations, you often wonder how anyone could be so gullible. Yet it is difficult to realize most human are that gullible with the right words spoken, the right pictures painted and the right buttons pressed.
For those familiar with the Classic Julius Caesar, one of the the theme of that beautiful piece was the Power of rhetoric. Julius Caesar highlights an important lesson that many are unaware of- YOU CAN MAKE A LOT HAPPEN WITH WORDS. This is not about positive confession, instead it is about mastering the craft of weaving words together in such a way that it gets things done.
Another popular theme is the fickle mindednesses of the people. But were they any more fickle minded than an average human these days. Before you sit on a high horse and declare that you are not fickle minded, think back at the moments you have acted or held a belief just based on a report you heard.
One of such moments for me was in SS3, during the WASSCE exams, a classmate snuck out of school to travel to Ibadan and she did not come back until the next day. She came back with bruises and wounds that she got from being beaten. All the report we got was that she had traveled to demand her money from a former student who had already graduated. And this senior student instead of paying her set her up to be beaten. As expected we were not happy about this development and had some strong reactions. My reactions leaves me cringing whenever I remember it to date . More than 10 years later, I think back and I wonder how I did not see the inconsistencies in her stories. A lot more went down and was involved than was shared with us but I was more driven by my emotions from seeing my classmate in pain.
In the same vein, how many times have you acted in a way based on what was told to you without you asking follow up questions? How many times have you supported a cause without asking yourself what the other side of the story could be? How many times has a friend come bearing tales that you blindly believe them only to find out much later that there were parts of the stories that were conveniently left out.
This is the major reason you should be wary of any emotional story. No matter what your natural bias is, endeavor to play the devil’s advocate for the other side, peradventure, you would come to understand their position better. People who are unwilling to consider for a moment the position of the opposing view are mostly not truly after the truth but after their will being established. There are several cases where the mob has caused the destruction (literal and figurative) of people based on unfounded allegation. Unfortunately, when the truth finally comes out, the damage would have already been done. You will then see such people back track. Some shamelessly act like they were in support of the exonerated victim, when in real fact, they were the ones who screamed “crucify him” the most. Some others in order to save face deny all the facts laid down and choose to claim a conspiracy was at play.
Beware of emotional responses for by it many nations have gone to war, many atrocities have been committed and many lives have been destroyed.
