(Cₗ) We as human beings have the capacity to learn, but with this comes the need for the ability to differentiate between intellectually thinking and analyzing a situation versus the emotions we are feeling in a situation. (I) According to David Foster Wallace in his essay “This Is Water”, (Q₁ ) “Probably the most dangerous thing about an academic education–least in my own case–is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract argument inside my head, instead of simply paying attention to what is going on right in front of me, paying attention to what is going on inside me” (3). (E) In saying this, Wallace is expressing his personal take on the education system and how the way he was taught to think takes him away from living in the moment sometimes. (T) Paul Bloom, author of the essay “Is Empathy Overrated?”, looks at the relationship between intellect and empathy in a similar way. (Q₂) “Intellectually, we can value the lives of all these individuals; we can give them weight when we make decisions. But what we can’t do is empathize with all of them” (3). (Cₑ) Both of these authors see the importance of knowing when applying intellect in a situation is the correct choice over letting emotions and empathy control the choices we make.
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