Love And Hate
Historically, extremes in emotion and reason do not often mix. I am
thus
cautious of attempting to comb through love or hate with reason. My
recourses
are two: to (yes, using what reason I have) separate intellectual
thought from
emotion; and to apply as little reason as possible without
ceasing to write. It
seems reasonable (sorry) to assume that emotion and
reason have nothing to do
with each other. It also seems very likely that one
cannot exist with the other.
They seem capable of cohabitation within a
single person, but fall upon
differing objects. Are not the things we love or
hate not the things we
understand? Hate: Hate is one of our reactions to a
lack of understanding. We
cannot hate that which we understand. Hate is our
frustration at failure to
comprehend. The more we understand something hated,
the more our hatred becomes
sadness or pity, or deepens to a hatred of that
which caused whatever it was
that we did not understand. In the latter case,
the hatred may increase with
understanding, but the object of the hatred has
shifted. We are given a wide
range of paths for dealing with our hatred, from
the altruistic to the
reactionary. The altruists, wishing peace without
societal discord, tell us to
repress our hatred and replace it with love, a
path bound eventually for emotive
explosion and breakdown. The diametric path
gives us a series of smaller
explosions with promise of emotional stability
as a result of constant expulsion
of malefic urges. Neither of these, or
combinations thereof, are terribly
productive ways in which to deal with
hate, as even the moderate paths deal with
the hatred only superficially and
inefficiently. I see the only way around
hatred being understanding. Upon
comprehension of the object of hatred, one is
either better equipped for the
constructive removal of said object, cooly and
rationally; or no longer
desirous of the removal. Either outcome is fully
satisfying altruistically.
In the latter case, one must accept simultaneously a
bit of humility for
having been mistaken as well as a bit of pride for having
become a bit more
correct. This leaves one emotionally balanced. The hatred is
not repressed,
but transformed. The same emotional energy is simply working in a
different
direction. Upon the removal of the object, the hatred is put to work
in a
positive manner instead of simply lashing out half-cocked and
possibly
incorrectly. The process is simply that of questioning: "why does
this
specific situation exist?", and "what can be done to cause
this
situation not to exist?". Realize that just as for every action, there
is
an equal and opposite reaction; for every reaction, there is an equal
and
opposite cause; and that nothing is simply either cause or effect,
but
everything is both. Love: Ask the same questions, hope not to find
answers, and
don't be disappointed when you do. If you find understanding of
the object of
love, it will no longer be an object of love, as love,
similarly to hate, is a
reaction to a lack of understanding. The faster you
find answers, the more
superficial the emotion. When answers come in the form
of more questions, you
have a true indication of the intensity and
thoroughness of the emotion, and
there is more likelyhood that when love
finally disappears, through
comprehension, it will be replaced with respect
and admiration which you will
find very easy to tell yourself is the same
thing. I am sorry if it seems I have
advised you to processes that diminish
or destroy emotions; I have not.
Emotions, contrary to poetic assumption,
are not permanent, but transitory
(although it is certainly not impossible
for them to remain for durations
exceeding a human lifetime). I believe that
the proper thing to do with emotions
is to consummate them, not to either
prolong or shorten their duration, for one
is stagnation and the other
repression.