The Scottish referendum has come and gone and the union of the United Kingdom prevailed. It was described as a matter of head versus heart as people reminisced being part of a strong and mighty family unit with Britain, while flirting with the possibility of becoming an independent country. Head being the logical and rational part that assessed all the pros and cons and the risks of breaking away, and heart being the emotional part seeking to try something new with confidence and zeal to go it alone and explore possibilities. I would argue that the heart also meant staying within the union and being part of a 300 year old family unit as this would be an emotional side of deciding. Which would mean there were two hearts involved on opposite sides plus a single head. The referendum helped people reflect on the meaning of Scotland to them and what they wanted for their homeland going forward. When asked what Scotland meant to him, a certain gentleman said, "It is home, the place I miss when I go to places that are more fabulous than Scotland". I liked this statement a lot as I identify with it. This was the heart speaking, as he did not need to make a logical assessment of data and facts to make this conclusion. In fact the statement acknowledges that there are better places than home, but home is chosen any day and anyway. Scientifically, human beings are considered to be wired towards the heart, in decision making as this is the easiest way out. If one tries to use the head in decision making, it means a lot of effort in assessing data and facts to come to a rational decision. Heart simply decides using a process of how one feels. Since according to my theory, the head was also supported by a heart on the same side of staying in the union, the head won or should I say the heart won? A majority of Scots chose to stay in the union, with fear of the unknown probably being the deciding factor in this case.Here are some quotes on the workings of the head and the heart.
- If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart - Nelson Mandela
- A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart - Jonathan Swift
- A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination - Nelson Mandela
- There is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart - Charles Dickens
- I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head - Theodore Roosevelt
- Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together - John Ruskin
- Keep your head and heart going in the right direction, and you won't have to worry about your feet- Unknown quotes
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What an insightful post Welli. As a British born American, I followed the Scottish vote with anxiety, but thank goodness people came to their senses and did vote with their head, with hopefully some heart thrown in too. The quotes are excellent. I particularly liked the two by Nelson Mandela.
ReplyDeleteI was very keen about Scottish referendum. I was following news views etc. But the decision was a good one. Now , why I was following this as people of Kashmir are divided by india and Pakistan all the time demand for referendum. I was just curious if some day we will have such chance and I do not know if this right is granted to us someday what we will come up with as we have to decde between three options
ReplyDeleteIndia
Pakistan
Independent
So many heads and hearts will be in action.... Who knows :)
I feel that in real world we must think peacefully from our head and decide. It depends on situation sometimes we have to go after heart but in above case it was worth going after head. All the quotes are very nice.
I agree that both the head and the heart are necessary in making decisions. It was interesting following the Scottish election.
ReplyDeleteLove the Mandela quote about talking to someone in their language.
ReplyDeleteTo make business decisions I tend to use my head-
ReplyDeleteIn hiring employees I often tended to use my heart which frequently led to regrets
In family like, I use my heart more than my head.
Interesting post as always.
Many times I have had a head heart struggle when pondering a decision. Do I want to be pragmatic or do I want to feel the best I possibly can feel. To be honest I love it when the heart wins but that doesn't always happen. Both are needed for the decision to be thoroughly debated internally.
ReplyDeleteAlong with many others, I was also watching Scottish referendum. In my head, I was thinking, most people would vote "No". Independence brings a lot of new issues. With world terrorism growing more and more, will a new country be ready to handle all those issues? In canada, Quebec wants independence too. Sometimes, I wonder, people go with their heart and not thinking enough.
ReplyDeleteI too have been following the Scottish vote. I agree that both the head and the heart was needed and necessary in making a decision such as this. Thank goodness in the end the people were able to vote with their head. Maybe there hearts will follow. :-)
ReplyDeleteMany of our decisions in life we use the head and the heart making decisions. But in this case using the head will in the end be the right decision.
ReplyDeleteThe head versus the heart is a regular struggle. Occasionally, I have trouble. That's why I like to make a list of pros and cons. Scotland is the origin of some of the world's greatest music. I'm glad it will continue to be.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I would say I use both. I do go with my gut feeling on some things and my feeling has turned out to be right. I use my head for making decisions on tests and work.
ReplyDeleteAt the expense of sounding simple, I will go a"head" and posit that the confusion arises from the close proximity that these 2 organs (if you may) endure as they both start with "hea.." Notwithstanding such proximity, they present diametrically opposing views, messing up their master's peace as he has to slap himself when one of the 2 (organs) accuses the other of poor decisioning. Having taken a risk already in taking this view, I will immerse myself further into controversy by supposing that the head should take the lead as the heart is too simple in its justifications. I reserve my right to be wrong as I write....and think
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