Who's In Charge Here?

There’s something fey about intuition. Hearing “Well, I just had a feeling,” is an unsatisfactory experience. Often an intuitive hit is likened to making a guess, taking a chance. On any given coin flip, one has a 50% chance of being right.

But it goes beyond that. Modern society has less respect for the heart. We have the internet, the accumulated wisdom of the world, just a tap away. We have AI. We have satellites orbiting the earth tracking our every action. Such things are creations of the modern mind at work. And we adore the mind.

After all, the ego lives in the mind and the early 21st century is nothing if not over the moon for the ego. Sufficiently stroking one’s ego with filters and likes and 👍s can give deep meaning to a shallow life.

However, an interesting study from 2019 suggests the mind actually takes its cue from the heart. If that is true, one might ask, how did we get into this mess? The heart, after all, is supposed to be our conduit to the sublime. Why would it lead us astray?

Think of the old image of someone facing a decision and having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Yes, the angel represents the heart. The angel speaks first, the devil speaks last and loudest. Our human nature, as opposed to our greater nature, favors the loudest and the latest. Our ego most definitely thinks the latest is the greatest. You know that recurring cycle of everyone being out to get you? Maybe that’s just a sign you’re listening to the loudest voice, not the best one.

Perhaps it’s worth the blink of an eye to respect that initial feeling or voice welling up inside. The ego will demand its say. But the choice is yours.