Comments | idealists: Throw the cat amongst the pidgeons?

marybagain in idealists

Throw the cat amongst the pidgeons?

Jun 12, 2006 21:44

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift." (Albert Einstein)

What do group members think about the above quote?

Comments 6

apollanaut June 13 2006, 04:38:05 UTC

I think Einstein hit the nail on the head with this quote! Modern Western society, in particular, has devalued both the intuitive and the feeling functions in favour of thinking and sensing. I've posted before on this issue, which was first brought to light by another great thinker: Carl Jung himself!

This means that of the four temperaments, Idealists (who favour both intuition and feeling) are most out of sync with our society. This bias is apparent everywhere, if one has the eyes to see. For example, I've lost count of the number of times a character in the popular media turns to another and says, in a highly derogatory tone of voice: "You know what you are: a dreamer and an idealist!", as if this were the worst insult imaginable!

Fortunately, there are signs of a backlash to this attitude. The sheer number of current TV shows, movies and books which deal with supernatural issues is good evidence of the public's thirst for non-rational themes. To quote Halle Berry's character in the movie "Gothika":

"Logic is overrated!"

marybagain June 13 2006, 19:48:54 UTC

Do you have any ideas - dare I say it - intuitive thoughts about how we could achieve a better balance in our society in this regard?

skylark777 June 13 2006, 06:22:07 UTC

Einstein was right on this one.

(The comment has been removed)

marybagain June 14 2006, 12:49:42 UTC

According to Keirsey.com, Einstein was INTP.

palerabbit June 15 2006, 14:04:06 UTC

Hmm... I guess it depends on how specific one wants to define the terms ( ... )

spiritquest June 15 2006, 17:06:44 UTC

I think its a thought provoking quote.

I feel very torn by it. I don't think sacred gift is a correct denotation for intuition, though it feels good connotatively. And while it may have applied in Einstein's time, I don't think the servant is much honored today.

One type of intuition is based on rationality -- its when the mental process of determining right just becomes so automatic that you don't need to consciously invoke it (and often you don't have the option to consciously invoke it).

So one way to boil this quote down... is to say that we are a society that requires substantiated logical PROOF. That can't be a bad thing, can it? If only it were true.

So after exploring the idea, I find I disagree with it in more than one way.