Humans are not as rational as we wish they could be. Just as the NPR
clip states, “people use utilitarian, cost-benefit
calculations sometimes. But other times, they make an emotional decision”. It
seems as though being rational and being emotional are mutually exclusive. This
is great for people who want to produce effective rhetoric and want to change
the ideology of their audience. Even though acting purely on emotions is normal,
it is not advised.
Logic tends
to be harsh. In the NPR situation, by pushing one innocent person to his death,
you could easily save five innocent people from death. Even though the participant
given the scenario may believe that five lives is worth more than one life,
when the participant materializes the idea of killing one person to save others,
they feel pain. This mentality is held by several people. If a person hears
that a bomb blast has occurred, they will be upset with the current situation
but will move on. Because they are not directly impacted by the situation, they
would be able to able to think rationally and take the appropriate actions. If
the same person saw a bomb blast occur, they would be directly affected. Most
people may be stricken by fear or sheer shock. Therefore, these individuals
would be unable to think clearly. For this reason, doctors cannot operate on
other family members as their emotions may cloud their judgment. Thus, imagery
has a great emotional impact on a person. Their emotions can easily decrease
their rationality.
Imagery is aimed at being powerful.
And with certain images it is important that people respond in a certain way. It
is natural for people to respond to a gruesome event by being shocked or traumatized.
But if people did not react that way, society would think they lacked empathy. To
a certain extent being emotional is important. But we should be aware what the
sources of our emotions are. It is dangerous to be a puppet due to our
emotions, so people must attempt to be rational at all times.
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