Saul Luizaga wrote:
> since reason and emotions are contradictory in nature 

I disagree with this.  I think emotions help us decide what we want and keep 
us working towards a goal, while reason lets us balance the different 
emotions and decide which ones to act on and how.

Anger is an emotion.  Anger at being cut off in traffic is below reason. 
Reason tells you that the consequences of acting on that anger in any 
violent kind of way are likely to cause even worse emotions, like 
frustration at not being able to get past the prison guards.

Hunger is an emotion. Reason tells you where to go buy food to satisfy it.

Fear is an emotion. It keeps one running away from the predator, even if one 
is also hungry and running past food. In this case, reason would agree with 
the fear and keep you running. Unless you're being chased by the Terminator, 
at which point you'll starve if you don't eat before he gives up, where 
reason tells you the likely safest time to pause for a sandwich.

I don't think that reason and emotion are at odds. Different emotions are at 
odds, sometimes, and one can use reason to decide which emotion is more 
important to act on. It may seem like reason is contrary to emotion, but 
it's just selecting different emotions to act on.

(The rest of your discussion is spot on. :-)

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!

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