Maintaining Objectivity

As I 'grow up' I realize that one of the most important things that an individual must learn to do as a mature, discerning adult is to mainatain objectivity. It sounds real easy when I say it like that, but believe me it's as complicated as getting yourself to use one part of your brain over the other. By default, emotions tend to predominate. But then again, could it not be argued that in certain situations, one must let emotions guide us? Well, maybe. But the empirical rule seems to be( at least for me): think hard and think objectively.


Thinking rationally is a talent. It's something that may not come naturally to most people. Not that people don't have the inherent ability. It's a matter of practice....and tendencies. Some people take 'gut decisions' so often that the rational thinking component of their brains has been suppressed into perennial dormancy. Consequently, they may find it difficult to summon that faculty at will. Everything takes practice. So does objectivity.

So can you maintain objectivity in say interpersonal relationships? I couldn't say for sure. I need to practice harder to find out. But having learnt what I have, I shall go ahead and claim that objective thinking has its upsides everywhere. I'll stick my head out and proclaim that on a personal level I have benefited greatly at times by keeping it 'objective', by checking knee-jerk emotional responses to difficult situations. Maybe, just maybe, I haven't yet encountered a large enough sample space of situations to generalize just yet. But then so far so good. Keep it simple.