The rationalist mind … continues to judge that if you identify a problem, and if that problem ought to be solved, then it is resolvable in principle; we just need the right solution. In part, this is behind the insipid Progressivism infecting so much of the electorate, as well as the simmering frustration and rage of the body politic. Stage One: there is a problem, we ought to fix it, that we ought to fix it implies that we can fix it, all we need to do is get busy fixing it—ergo, hope for change. Stage Two: the problem has not been fixed, but it ought to have been fixed, our hopes are dashed, but this is clearly someone’s fault because it could have been fixed if they simply got busy fixing it—ergo, simmering frustration and resentment at whoever should have fixed it but didn’t.
Reason is certainly an important tool for arriving at the truth. But it is not the only tool. And it is of use only if one has first accurately and precisely described the problem in and of and by itself. We do not think merely because we reason. It is the whole person who thinks. Memory, imagination, experience, and emotion all play a part in it. That is why the soundest thinkers are those who keep their minds open regarding their conclusions.
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