A person’s ability to reason wisely about a challenging situation can improve when experiencing diverse but balanced emotions , according to researchers at the University of Waterloo (Belgium).
The finding clarifies millennia of philosophical and psychological thought that debate how wisdom relates to the effective handling of emotionally charged experiences.
Thus, in a physical confrontation, it would probably be difficult for Spock to deal with Yoda’s powers, but what makes these two characters so iconic is not so much their physical prowess as their brilliant minds. Yoda is a Jedi Grand Master, with 900 years of wisdom; Spock, on the other hand, is a magician of logic, c on free reasoning powers of emotional biases.
Who would win, then, in a battle of wits?
We have the solution . A team of scientists from the University of Waterloo has analyzed this great debate, the conclusion of which establishes, once and for all, which of these fictional oracles employs the wisest philosophy.
Overall, the experiments involved about 3,678 participants over four years of research. While neither of the study subjects was Vulcan or a member of the Yoda species (whatever their species), these two fictional characters are nevertheless known for their different methodologies. Spock believes in denying emotions so that his reasoning powers are sound, while Yoda preaches finding balance, and regularly consults with his intuitions and emotions when making decisions.
As with most things, balance is the key
“What unites the great master of the Jedi Order and the first officer of the ship Enterprise is their critical acumen, their ability to reason in complex situations, and their selfless willingness to renounce personal interests for the common good,” the authors commented. . “At the same time, these two icons fundamentally differ in their attitudes towards emotions.”
While we might imagine that scientists would be predisposed to lean toward Spock, since his emotion-suppression methodology seems to fit more closely with the scientific method, the experts stuck to the results. The subjects who scored the best on the study’s “wise reasoning” metric were those who expressed a balanced set of emotional states, rather than repressed emotions or unbalanced emotional states.
In other words, science is on Yoda’s side.
“It appears that wise reasoning does not align with uniform emotional regulation, as Spock describes it. Rather, wise reasoning accompanies a person’s ability to recognize and balance a wide range of emotions, as Yoda describes it,” Grossmann concludes. .
And so the great debate has been resolved.
As Yoda said: “You will know the good from the bad when you are calm, at peace; passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”
Referencia: Wise reasoning benefits from emodiversity, irrespective of emotional intensity.
Grossmann, Igor,Oakes, Harrison,Santos, Henri C.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Jan 28 , 2019, No Pagination Specified
