Feelings Help Us Think and Make Decisions — Letters that should have been in the new york times

7.24.22

To the editor:

Russ Roberts illustrates the futility of trying to make important life decisions like whether to marry - what he calls 'wild problems' - by attempting a dispassionate cost-benefit analysis of pros and cons (7.24.22 How to make a life-defining decision). Roberts suggests thinking more about one's destiny rather than one's path in order to lead a meaningful life. But he downplays the central role of emotions in such decisions. Interestingly enough, this is nicely illustrated in the example he gives of Charles Darwin deciding whether to marry: his thinking incorporates an 'emotional vein' that frees him to choose marriage.

Contemporary neuroscience has proven what psychoanalysts have known for a long time: thinking and feeling are not independent functions of our minds. Feelings, which are inextricably linked to our bodies, our very existence, play an integral role in thinking and solving the 'wild problems' we face.

Respectfully

Larry S Sandberg MD