Are You Driven By Reason or Emotions?

An unexamined life is not worth living -Socrates.

The famous quote above is credited to Socrates, one of the greatest philosophers of all time. In his days, Socrates lived in Athens where he taught the youths to reason, to question everything before they took decisions. Unfortunately, Socrates' teachings were misinterpreted by the authorities. Consequently, Socrates was sentenced to death for impiety and corruption of the youths.

Living the examined life

In his dictum, Socrates admonished the youths to live an examined life. Living an examined life means that one's decisions and actions are guided by reason and logic. An examined life is, for Socrates, a life which weighs the consequences of an action before decisions are made.

Socrates believes that most of the problems of the world comes from irrational decisions, decisions that bring problems and calamity afterwards. If one learns to live an examined life, chances are that one's life will attract less troubles.

Living the Unexamined Life

To live an unexamined life is to live a life of recklessness, a life where decisions are made based on sentiments and emotions rather than reason. Those who live this kind of life compare themselves to others and even buy what they don't need, to impress those who don't care about them. Socrates warns about the dangers of living an unexamined life and concludes that the unexamined life is not worth living.

What Drives You, Reason or Emotions?

We live in a chaotic world, a world full of pressure and noises. This puts everyone of us under intense pressure when taking decisions. We are faced, unfortunately, with the option of either making rational decisions or making decisions based on sentiments and emotions.

If you allow your emotions to overwhelmed your reasoning capacity, you are very likely going to end up making decisions that will bring frustrations into your life. So before you make a decision, think deeply, pause for a moment or two, and ask yourself whether your decision is based on reason or emotions. If you cannot answer this question, it is better you go back to the drawing board. It is better to delay a decision than to take a destructive one.

- An unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates.

This video gives a deeper meaning of the Socratic dictum.

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