Using Your Emotions to Find the Truth
Emotions are often blamed for poor decision-making, but combining them with rational analysis can improve decisions, especially when evaluating information.
THE IDEA
Once More with Feeling
Using Your Emotions to Find the Truth
In many popular accounts, our embrace of false information comes down to a single villain: our emotions. Emotion, we are told, bypasses our critical faculties. Our feelings make us do stupid things. That dumb thing you shared? Emotion’s fault. That fake video everyone fell for? Blame your feelings. If we could be more robotic, more Spock-like, we wouldn’t have such problems. Or so the story goes.
We’re not here to tell you your feelings don’t muck things up. They absolutely can. That said, the emotional side of this debate could use a better press agent. Your feelings aren’t simply a chaos agent messing up the perfect life of the mind. Rather, it’s best to think of your feelings as a partner with your slower, rational self. When you draw on the strengths of both feelings and analysis, you can make better decisions than using either one alone.
When to use it
Evaluating controversial news stories: note your emotional response and use it to prompt fact-checking before sharing.
Making personal finance decisions: use feelings of unease about a risky investment to research further.
Political debate: recognize emotional triggers in media to avoid being manipulated.
Team decision-making: encourage members to share gut feelings as a complement to data analysis.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Using emotional cues to fact-check a viral video
When a shocking video evokes strong anger or outrage, instead of immediately sharing it, pause and use that emotional reaction as a signal to investigate the source and verify the content.
Emotional insight in negotiation
During a business negotiation, a feeling of discomfort about a proposal might indicate hidden risks. Using that emotion alongside logical analysis can lead to a more balanced decision.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How can you distinguish between an emotional reaction that warns of misinformation and one that is simply a personal bias?
Think of a time when your feelings helped you make a better decision. What cues did you notice, and how did you integrate them with reasoning?
When might relying on emotions alone lead to error, and what steps can you take to ensure emotions inform rather than override your analysis?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Verified How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online (Mike Caulfield, Sam Wineburg)