Living Life

The best anecdote for too much emotion is a cold logic shower — Anon.

Dichotomy

President Trump decides with logic and sells with emotion. -- Anon.

Pointy Heads

Zippy

As we often do, my wife and I were observing the loopy state of the world this morning and we stumbled upon anther paradox which needs to be dissected. There are two major motivators in society -- logic and emotion. The left tends to behave more out of emotion and the right, leaning on logic. Now our university elites, one would assume, are, or should be, grounded in logical thought growing out of their study of the great thinkers of history. Therefore, again one would assume, these  pedagogues would resist the soppy reasoning associated with progressive activism (while privilege, safe spaces, virtue signaling, etc.).

But no! The right-reasoning process seems mostly dead on our college campuses ... and emotion rules our ivory towers. Cold, hard logic is too often eschewed and is replaced by slogans and mindless chants. Why this has occurred is beyond the understanding of this observer ... and, apparently, also is not up for discussion in the classrooms of many of our pointy-headed professors.

Afterthought:Perhaps our prejudice against the state of higher education comes from the growth of hyphenized "studies"courses relative to the classics. This lopsided expansion of "soft" vs. tradotional studies is, in our opinion, rotting out o our educational foundation ... which should concern everyone.

The Stock Market

The stock market generally is a rational predicter of the future ... that is, until emotion takes over ... and then it isn't.

Mr. Cool

The then Senator Obama once told Harry Reid that his "gift" was being able to read from a teleprompter so easily.  That certainly is true, but he has a much larger asset ... and that is his "coolness".  Marshall McLuhan once prophetically observed that television is a cool medium.  And President Obama fits this medium like a chamois glove.  He even strides "cool."  I seldom can watch him perform on television without singing to myself that old 1959 Coasters' song Charlie Brown:

Who walks in the classroom, cool and slow
Who calls the English teacher, Daddy-O      (see: All Lyrics)

So, in the upcoming Presidential election, Obama (I like to call him The Barry to reprise that other cool media character, The Donald), has the natural advantage in the upcoming debates.  Neither Rick Santorum nor Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich are particularly cool personalities ... Romney is cooler than the other two, but still boiling hot compared to The Barry.  What does this suggest?  To me, it implies that, if the election is determined on emotion (as it was in 2008), Obama will win in a walk.  However, if the U.S. electorate chooses to view things this fall with a preponderance of logic, then Obama will loose in a landslide.  It should turn out to be a classic battle between the head and the heart.

And what will determine the mood of electorate then?  My guess would be the degree of angst (created by the world situation) that is roiling the voters ... the hotter things are, the less well "coolness" will play.