Logic Over Emotion: A Personal Decision-Making Analysis

Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, “Logic is not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. Logic is transcendental.” If I were to state a single quality that I believe I have that distinguishes me from everybody else, I would have to say it is my intense sense of logic over emotion as deciding factors for decisions. I feel as though logic is the primary factor in most of the choices I make in life. Logic has trumped emotion throughout various portions of my life.

In the summer of 2017, I took an online personality test that would decide “the percentage of my actions that are based on either logic or emotion.” The results of this test were shocking to me, and yet I had no difficulty in accepting it as fact. The test results stated that

I then base which plan of action I should take over the probabilities calculated earlier. Emotion does have a role, albeit a small one, in deciding which of these plans I should proceed with. Logic primarily determines smaller plans I think of. However, as of late, emotion has been the primary factor in deciding the larger plans in my life.

As a child, I was told to do my homework and do whatever other people asked of me, even if I disliked it. I have had little to no say in the matters concerning my life, as others have decided to lay it out for me, regardless of my desires. These plans were described as “what is best for me,” though I did not get to decide any part of them. My parents taught me that I am not allowed to deny them anything they ask for or complain about my life due to how “easy my life is.” I was taught that life is difficult, you do not always get what you desire, and you are forced to do many things you may

I am fairly confident that I was the best student in my grade at math, and it felt as though I were two years ahead of everyone else. Due to my prowess, I enjoy calculating statistics and chances, weighing each outcome against the others. As I entered high school, I began to lose interest in math and school. Education seemed to be a boring chore, and it got somewhat difficult. In my seventh grade science class, I had received my lowest grade on a test ever, a C+. I had never had to study before high school and it was then that I realized that it was a good idea to try a little bit in school, which is a very logical thing to do in order to maintain a relatively good grade. I rarely study for tests, and when I do study, it is only for about ten minutes. I study for tests that feel unfamiliar or that I can not afford to get a bad grade on. When I study for finals, I primarily study for the classes I have the lowest grade in, and the secondary choices are classes that I believe will have the hardest