As a Man Thinketh
Ourselves, Charlotte Mason Volume 4 ( Part II The House Of Mind); Chapter VI - My Lord Chief Attorney-General, Reason
We often find ourselves defending what is convenient, even when it is only partly true. It feels far easier not to stretch or step beyond our comfort zone. This is not the world boxing us in; we manage that quite well on our own. We say to ourselves,” I am not a reader. I am not a writer. I am not an outdoorsy person.”, and our rational minds work hard to supply the justifications that help us settle into the box we have already chosen.
Imagine what Prospero might have said to himself as he neglected his kingdom. “My brother can govern just as well as I can, and I may as well lose myself in books to become a better leader.” He was going to retreat into books anyway, so he could have spared himself the justification. This does not make books the villain. It is about being conscious enough to recognise when our reasoning is hampering our growth and sheltering us from responsibility.
As I write this, I’m aware of what I’ve avoided because of my inclinations. I know the projects that are endlessly postponed simply because they are not my thing. And I know what I am going to push myself to begin this week.
In much the same way, we use reason to justify even harmful choices. We rationalise and construct a series of ‘ifs’ that do not truly exist. Prospero’s brother must have told himself, “I’ll be doing the subjects a favour if I just kill my brother; after all, I rule much better than he does.” There is usually some truth in the reasoning offered to support the wrong idea already entertained.
It seems to me that reason is simply fuel for character, whether good or bad. If your natural inclination is compassion, your reason will provide you with reasons to be compassionate. Your reason will keep you awake until you act against injustice.
It is much like when people say, “trust the process.” They choose to trust an idea and rationalise along the way. In many cases, the process has not been proven. They would be better off saying, “this is an experiment, and I trust in my ability to observe and make wiser decisions as a result.”
Reason exists to work on our ideas. Therefore, the better our ideas, the more our reason will accomplish on our behalf. I venture to say that the greater and more beneficial our inventions will be. The same reason that created weapons of mass destruction also created weapons of mass protection; the reason was simply applied to different ideas.
This brings us to common sense and culture. We reason things out and agree that they are splendid ideas, so we no longer need to dedicate executive function to their reasoning. Sometimes, we forget the original idea and discard the reason behind it. As a result, we ignore and forget the idea until someone reasons through the old concepts afresh and arrives at either the same conclusion or a different one.
I believe all the world’s problems can be summed up in this insight:
People think that they can convince each other by the arguments which their own Reason has accepted. So they could, if the other side were not already convinced by arguments exactly opposite; and upon which side a man is convinced, usually depends upon his own will:––
"Convince a man against his will,
He's of the same opinion still";
-Charlotte Mason
Our reason doesn’t come pre-programmed with goodness or wisdom. It goes where we point it. And that means it’s our responsibility to embrace better ideas, choose wiser motivations, and cultivate deeper values so our clever assistant, reason, can do meaningful things.
Best Regards,
Olufunmike