Meditation for May 18th
Thinking Versus Feeling
The Meyers-Briggs personality type indicators are extroverts or introverts, sensing or using intuition, judging or perceiving, or thinking or feeling. Which one are you?
Thinkers use the very logical part of the brain. They use statistics and rational thought in arguments. They look for proof in what they believe in. They think about their feelings.
This also means they don’t care about your fucking feelings or want you to enjoy something beautiful explaining it to death. This also means that when they say they are sad, they don’t feel sad; they think they are sad. They think about their feelings.
Feelers are people who feel their way through decision-making and their core beliefs. It doesn’t matter what any rational conclusion might be; they will let their feelings guide them because it just “feels” right. Feelers look at their emotions as the undisputed truth and let them guide them into the most ridiculous situations.
This also means that a feeler shouldn’t base important decisions on their feelings. They can’t think about anything; they can only feel it. If it feels right, 2 + 2 is only 4, but if it doesn’t feel right, then 4 is wrong.
A feeler and a thinker can devise a compromise when arguing. A feeler has to feel that the thinker is only able to think anything and isn’t able to feel, so if it is a fact, the thinker is usually right, but if it is just an opinion, the thinker wins because opinions aren’t based on fact, but on feelings. And opinions aren’t facts.
Example: Politics. You react to the political landscape as a feeler or a thinker. Thinking requires taking the information you know and can access; feelings are just reacting to the information. So, as a thinker, you can only make informed decisions and opinions based on the amount of knowledge you have, and not only the access to information, but the willingness to access that information. Just because a person is a thinker instead of a feeler doesn’t mean they are smart. A feeler has the same opportunities, but instead of seeing it rationally, they let their feelings take them to their conclusion.
We’ll take immigration as an example—both incite and a lot of thought and feelings. During Trump’s first term, people were up in arms about kids in cages. The access the thinkers had was the media blasting the administration for separating children from their parents, and most of them thought this was wrong. The feelers reacted to that news with fierce emotions. Then Biden became president, and because the media didn’t report any more news about the kids in cages, the thinkers and the feelers looked elsewhere for things to think and feel about. Not only were there kids in cages during the Biden administration, but Biden’s administration put lots more kids in cages, and there were no thoughts or feelings on this, but now that Trump is in office again, the thoughts and feelings about kids in cages are back.
So, unless you score exactly 50/50 on your Meyers-Briggs personality test, you can’t argue about anything because even if you have all the facts in the world or feel in your tummy, nothing is real.
Prayer
God,
I feel so very strongly that you exist.
Even though more and more proof comes out that a god with any creative omnipotence is improbable,
This makes me feel like you exist more.
Because I feel,
I think there is a conspiracy.
I think that non-gun owners want to prove that dinosaurs lived before man.
So, therefore gay.
When I’m scared that my beliefs are being questioned or even wrong,
I react with anger.
Sometimes with angry radio or TV shows,
Sometimes with signs and Facebook rants,
Or sometimes with guns and suicide bombings.
God,
Thanks for just being another word for love.
Amen.
Craft
Here are the two reactions to the same thing by thinkers and feelers.
Taxes
Thinker: I pay taxes to pay for things to make a better community.
Feeler: MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE
Gays
Thinker: Some people are gay.
Feeler: GAY PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO MAKE ME AND EVERYONE ELSE GAY!
Getting the inspiration to vote.
Thinker: I better vote for the best candidate for the job because I want the best government possible, and that starts with voting.
Feeler: GAY PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO MAKE ME AND EVERYONE ELSE GAY!
Watching Dame Lillard hit a buzzer-beater three that wins the game.
Feeler: WOW!
Thinker: Actually, Dame is a below-average point guard. He is only 37% behind the arc and has a BPM of -2.4.
Losing
Feeler: I am sad that I lost.
Thinker: You should have known better. The odds were stacked against you. Your choice to try measures my opinion of your intelligence.
Trolling Facebook
Thinker: I am right.
Feeler: YOU ARE WRONG!
Goal
If you are a thinker, you are a terrible person who is dead inside because your soul was never born. Your opinions about music, art, literature, philosophy, and anything pertaining to the human experience are null and void.
If you are a feeler, let the grown-ups deal with the politics, science, religion, and maths. You have to react to every goddamned thing with either that’s offensive or with a two page thesis on a Facebook comment thread about it. The logical person is high-fiving their friends about getting you while you are screaming at your partner about it seven days later.
Roll an eight-sided die. If it’s even, react with a thinker’s reaction; if it’s odd, respond with a feeler’s response.