THOUGHT TALK. Get the words right. A FEELING IS A FACT. BUT YOU DON'T FEEL YOU'RE A CAT OR DOG. OR DO YOU?

I’m having Thought Talks, starting Friday the 19th. Live.

But there will be lots more THOUGHT TALKING.

Here it’s on: GET THE WORDS AND DEFINITIONS RIGHT. There is a war on words and definitions.

I’ve just read, from someone who is wonderfully fact-centered: a feeling is not a fact. She also wrote that opinions are based on feelings. (I’m not naming her, as this isn’t what matters.)

First, I love being fact-centered. And I tremendously appreciate that this person values facts and being fact-centered

But I see her as, in what she wrote in these instances, doubly anti-factual. Because A FEELING IS A FACT. It is a fact that I am sad, happy, frustrated, angry, overjoyed, etc. A feeling therefore is a fact - but the fact is only the feeling itself - it does not tell us if the earth is flat or round, if someone is entitled to one thing or another …  if I am or am not a Martian or a dog or a man or a woman … etc. 

Then, as for opinions being based on feelings, this may be the case. It is, for some people. However, opinions can also be  based on facts. If I don’t have enough facts to come to a definite conclusion, I am likely to say something like: “Looking at the evidence, my opinion is that X likely did (or did not) murder Y.” I am acknowledging that I can only have an opinion, based on the limited evidence I have. 

One can also say, I FEEL Tom is guilty but I recognize I don’t have any evidence. There one isn’t claiming Tom is guilty or not, based on our feeling. One is in fact recognizing that one needs evidence before one claims he is guilty.

By the way, re FEELING one way or another about something or another. One can have a feeling - say, a sick feeling in one’s stomach about someone. But often there is the misuse of the word feeling. The accurate word is usually: BELIEVE. We believe someone is guilty or not - based on what we heard on the news, what we heard from friends, based on liking or not liking the image of the person in the media.

It matters to be accurate: do we FEEL someone is innocent, because we like them? or do we BELIEVE they are innocent, because there is a lack of evidence indicating they did whatever it is?

The misuse of the word feeling often occurs around what someone supposedly feels themself to be - male or female, human or extra-terrestrial, etc. Is this a feeling? Or is it a belief? So does Tom (or whoever it is) FEEL, deep down, that he is a cat or a chicken when he is actually a man. Or does he BELIEVE he is, deep down, a cat or a chicken when he is actually a man.

As I’ve already made clear, feelings are things like: love, hate, disgust, etc. 

I may BELIEVE I am fragile or strong or a rock or a dog. If someone disagrees I may FEEL disdain or shock or anger.

Using words inaccurately, muddling definitions  - it’s part of the war on reality.

From the huge amount of evidence, I believe that is more than an opinion. It’s a fact.

PS. REMINDER. ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 3 pm EST. THE FIRST THOUGHT TALK. STAY TUNED.

Posted January 14, 2024