Head vs Heart: why can't they just get along

Recently I went to go and see the Disney film 'Moana'. This is not a plug but I have to say it was one of the best Disney films I have ever seen. The music was inspiring, the visuals were gorgeous and the story and characters were magnificent. (Go see it if you haven't) But that's not actually what I want to talk about despite my love for this Disney masterpiece. Instead I want to talk about the short film beforehand called "Inner Workings" which was likely Disney's response to the Pixar film Inside Out. The touching short film featured two main characters, the head and the heart of a middle aged office worker and how they compete to try and get what they want. The Brain resembled your average middle aged guy stuck in a dead end job with no excitement or joy. Fun times. The Heart, on the other hand, resembled a 12 year old on a sugar rush from drinking too many fizzy drinks mixed with sherbet. The two vie for the dominant role but eventually they work together to make it so that the pragmatic brain gets to do work whilst the heart gets stoned on as much party substances as he wants, in an ending scene which took me back to when I watched the Wolf of Wall Street, which is quite far removed from a Disney film.

So why do I mention this? Maybe it's because I'm curious? Maybe it's because I'm supposed to be revising right now but I got bored? But whatever the case, I have found myself getting interested in the idea of Head vs Heart.

For anyone who has studied basic biology they will know that the heart actually does very little (aka nothing) in terms of controlling what you do and instead sits there and provides the drum beat for life until it gets tired and has a nap which heralds imminent death. So I will instead amend my interest to be between the rational side of you (in the case of Inner Workings, the brain) and the irrational side (ie the sugar loaded heart (diabetes is real guys watch what you eat)). We all listen to the voices in our heads (which occasionally make us feel crazy if we talk back) and we all probably know that one part of your mind will see something as an amazing idea whereas the other half will make you realise that maybe this amazing idea could cause two broken ribs, a bruised forehead and a severe loss of dignity. Take the example of cliff jumping. I have been cliff jumping once in my life and it was absolutely exhilarating and simultaneously terrifying. One part of me was urging me to jump over the edge, to take the fall and feel the rush of excitement as I plummeted towards the water. The other half of me pleaded not to jump over the edge, to avoid the fall and remove the risk of plummeting towards the water to an inconspicuous group of rocks that were likely lying underneath. I listened to my heart (or dumb irrational side) and had a brilliant time tempting fate. But you should not listen to your heart all of the time.

Say you were faced with the option of either going out to party with your friends or staying in to revise for you exams. If you go out you will obviously have a fun night becoming paralytically drunk and dancing to SClub7 to relive the good old days. However, by not staying home and revising you will not do as well in your exams as you could have done and end up doing a job you don't really want to do in a field you might not have been interested in, rather than pursuing your dream. Now, this might be a bit of an extreme example but you can see where I'm going with it. People everyday have to face this issue of rationality vs enjoyment. I face it when deciding between a muffin and a banana at lunch time or whether to have a free period or a study period. We make these choices in the people we choose to hang out with, the people we choose to trust, even the smallest decisions involve a weighing up between rational and irrational thought.

So how do we find the line between the two. And the answer is simple: you can't. There is no way to measure which is better. Many Utilitarian Philosophers have argued different points between different types of happiness, with John Stuart Mill arguing that the pursuit of intellect is to be preferred over the pursuit of base pleasures, whereas Jeremy Bentham states that we must do whatever gives us pleasure and minimises pain. There is no right or wrong here, only your preference. But the one thing that binds this all together is happiness.

The pursuit of happiness. That should be everyone's goal. Now, I cannot tell you how to balance rationality with irrationality, but I can tell you that you need both to have a happy and harmonious life. Yes, go out drinking with your friends, jump off cliffs and do stupid things. But also revise, pay your taxes and be secure so you can have a safe and grounded life too. Much like in Inner Workings and also Inside Out, it is finding the happy medium between heart and brain, happiness and sadness, sensibility and stupidity. But above all else, it is about making sure that life is worth living.