Logical Aspies

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There's a concept called wise mind. It's when the emotional mind and the intellectual mind are in balance.

truce time??

my therapist would disagree here i think, and i have to as well.....coming from someone who literally has problems directly related to a brain that has wiring just as you describe--that cannot distinguish between emotional and logical information. so basically ALL information that passes through my brain is not categorised in this way, with logic and emotion as parameters. my midbrain has trouble with that kind of "sorting", if you will, that particular aspect of executive functioning. part of this is due to my asperger's, part to my bipolar disorder, and part to my genetics and upbringing as well. logic and emotion are continuously "blending" in my consciousness, if you will.

now, i am the first to admit that this causes problems (bipolar disorder is not exactly the most pleasant of experiences at all times ). in fact it can cause horrible logical fallacies and paradoxical mental traps that are literally hell to experience (i think this is actually the most influencial factor in the high rate of suicides amongst manic-depressives).....it feels as if your mind is trying to split itself in half, that it is fighting a civil war that will never cease.

on the other hand, this particular "miswiring" lends a unique perspective that is impossible to attain in any other way....the perspective of being able to combine emotion and logic at times, and to approach a situation through that unique lens. this can be very valuable, as well as trying. it has it's costs, just like anything else. many of the greatest minds had seminal ideas sprout from these sorts of internal paradoxes that they were unable to exorcise any other way. dostoyevsky is one of my favourite examples. (and no, i am in NO WAY comparing myself to dostoyevsky....i'm not that arrogant. )

so i guess what i'm trying to say is that they (emotion and logic) can occur simultaneously, be used simultaneously.....but not without great cost, or at the very least discomfort. but i think the overall outcomes that are possible from this unique perspective (often seems to manifest as creative expression) are perhaps worth the cost.

so when it comes to the last phrase that i boldset there, i think that is oversimplification--to say nothing valid can come from using logic for emotion or vice-versa. i think it is fair to say that a good amount of what comes from this kind of combination is not valid--but at the same time i truly think the most balanced approach to feeling is using the emotional mind as well as the logical mind, and the most balanced approach to logic is to accept the subjective along with the objective. the two together create the whole picture. objective truth is not the whole truth. subjective truth has value, too. the trick is to combine the two as often as possible, and as balanced (50-50) as possible.....which is a hell of a lot easier said than done.

THANK YOU!! ! i knew there was a term for this, i just couldn't remember it for the life of me.

i think this is why a common piece of advice offered to those struggling with a decision even after they have weighed all the factors carefully and conscientiously is: "well, what does your heart tell you is the right answer?"

you had not mentioned this.. as it is interesting in relation to the topic at hand. I am aware that bipolar individuals have issues sorting through logical information and emotional information as well as in their responses. But I had not yet met one that was pleased with the outcome of that particular "issue". Most bipolar individuals and psychologists do not view that difficulty as beneficial. Though all agree that it does provide the individual with a different perspective... much in the same way that OCD or schizophrenia provides the individual with a unique perspective, much of that perspective is not viewed as necessarily beneficial. Though I have known a few schizophrenics and more than a few people with bipolar disorder and a few manic-depressives and a few that are blended (bipolar with mania, etc.)... I have not directly interacted with any individual with OCD.

that statement always confused me... your heart is a muscle, it does not tell you things, neither does your gut. Your mind is for that. and in the case of a lack in information allowing a decision, you must either wait to decide until you have more information, or pick the most beneficial (or least worst in some instances) alternative.

I suppose if you needed to guess you could use a common game, such as eenie, meenie, miney, moe... or toss a coin. But if you have actually weighed all the data and influencing factors in a decision... you would have already considered emotion (as either data, or influencing factor).

well obviously here the heart is symbolic.....what people are really saying is "what feels right as opposed to what looks right, if you can't decide by looking (observing, considering, and weighing intellectually)?" for most people, if intellect doesn't provide the answer, often feeling (some might call it subconscious mind, or spirit, whatever word you want to plug in here) is the next place to look. if your logical brain doesn't know, consult your feeling brain, basically. consider the subjective.

btw bipolar disorder and manic depression are the same thing. manic-depression is the old, DSM-III name for the disorder, bipolar disorder is the DSM-IV label. six of one, half-dozen of the other.

if you want to get real technical, all difficulties are beneficial if perceived from the right angle. a unique perspective can be alienating or inspiring, counter-productive or genius. it's all in how you use it. it's all in how you view it.

I was under the impression that manic-depressive is the more extreme case of bipolar.

I am not sure that makes sense. I am not talking about looking at something from all angles until you find a way that it is beneficial. I am talking about things that are beneficial to specific areas. Being in a coma could be considered beneficial from certain angles, but not really in a discussion on running a marathon.

I don't think we are less emotional, we just feel some emotions differently and express ourselves differnetly.

We are certainly more logical.

However, Asperger's effects everyone differently so it's not the same for all Aspies I dont think.

You can say that with so much certainty despite there not being a shred of evidence?

To be honest it's my opinion based on my view on myself, personal experiences and observation.

Although I have read it in a lot of places, too.

I don't suppose the places you've red it in had any credible studies cited or such?

''Personal experience'' isn't a very good indicator. I have Aspergers, I am smarter than the group of NT's I know, therefore Aspergers must make me smarter? Oh yeah, groundbreaking logic there...

What if there were a group of NT's that came along, who were smarter than almost every aspie on this site?

When are people going to accept that no link between Aspergers and Intelligence has been found?