A Perspective on Reason

In some of my reading the authors make statements that seem to indicate that the rational aspect of human existence is to be avoided as one would avoid a sickness. They allude to an inner experience that is to be preferred. I am left with the impression that to live in the 'now' experiencing some form of 'enlightenment' void of conscious reason is the peak of human existence. In moments of twisted humor I think of my mother. She is 88, lives in a nursing home, doesn't remember my name, no longer has the ability to reason and lives in the moment. Is she experiencing the life that so many appear to be seeking?

I'm confident the authors I have been reading would not agree with the amateur cartoon that I've painted above. However, I'm left with the question "what are they saying?" I don't understand enough to get the feeling that I see what they see. Brevity and conciseness often are hindrances to communication and I think that's the situation I've encountered.

Here are my thoughts.

I am one person with multiple facets -- facets such as physical, mental, social, spiritual, intuition, etc. Each of these facets combine to make me who I am. I can give focus to one facet and develop it to the exclusion of other facets. There are athletes who have developed physically while ignoring mental or social facets. There are students who develop the mental facet while ignoring the physical facet. My personal values and experiences lead me to want to develop all facets and seek some balance between them.

I enjoy reading and learning and interacting with people of differing ideas. I shy away from books and people who confirm my beliefs. My natural inclination is to favor the rational facet and I try to avoid excess in this area.

I have little native artistic ability. I enjoy music, sculpture and paintings but can't create them except at the most elementary level. I see paintings, hear music and read poetry that touch me at a level that is not rational. The paintings evoke feelings and experiences that tend toward the mystical. I have native rational ability that I can use to enrich my life. Cannot the rational be a vehicle of experience similar to that of the sculptor or composer or poet?

A painter captures only one aspect -- sight. The artist cannot convey sound, touch, taste or scent. These are allusions conveyed though light but this does not weaken the painting. I do not want to experience paintings with speakers and vents to emit scents. These would detract from the experience of the painting.

I can leave the gallery and enter a concert hall be moved to a new realm by an orchestra. I can leave the concert hall and slip into a poetry reading and be transported again. Likewise, I can attend a lecture relating scientific research or enter the doors of a university science building and experience something akin to a spiritual experience.

The pitfall that I attempt to avoid is to think that reason can capture, control and explain all of reality. The painter knows the limitations of the medium and distinguishes between the painting and reality. There are aspects of reality that cannot be portrayed on a canvas. The rational person knows the limitations of reason and distinguishes between the created mental model and reality. There are aspects of reality that are beyond the limitations of reason.

The artist chooses the brush, the color and the technique. The rational person uses reason in the same way and develops the art of reason.