People have great difficulty understanding some things in life. Now, I’m not talking about higher math, or bio chemistry here(1). Rather, I’m referring to anythings from how someone can shoot up a school to issues of global warming. No technical understanding is required for either.

For example, take this quote from Science News:

1. “As researchers learn to better tap into the sun's rays, solar energy stands to become an important resource for the planet. Whether sunlight becomes the sole source of sustainable energy or works in concert with wind and other renewables, scientists are optimistic that the planet can break its dependence on fossil fuels.

   "The research community really wants to work on this problem," says Alivisatos. "If you talk to young students about this, their eyes light up."

   Some researchers point out, however, that the funding doesn't match the urgency of the energy situation. "It's incredible how slow we've been as a nation to actually start pumping the kinds of resources toward this problem that are commensurate with the problem," says Peters.

   "We should treat energy in research like we treat health," says Lewis. "It's as great a challenge as curing cancer, except that in 20 years, if we don't cure cancer, the world will be the same. If we don't develop ways to provide people with clean, cheap energy, we absolutely know that we will have emitted so much carbon dioxide that the world isn't going to be the same." (Reaching for Rays - Scientists work toward a solar-based energy system, May 26, 2007; Vol. 171, No. 21 , p. 32

Why is it that: “It’s incredible how slow we've been as a nation to actually start pumping the kinds of resources toward this problem that are commensurate with the problem"? Isn’t it because the population as a whole has not emotionally felt the problem? It seems that only when we actually experience (feel) something can we truly understand. Words, as a vehicle for understanding, don’t work as well as we think. Words are only effective when ‘preaching to the choir’, so to speak.

This goes to show how true understanding arises from emotion. If our emotions aren’t on board, we don’t really understand, even though we may 'understand' something intellectually. Knowing is a whole body experience, from the gut's emotion up to the brain's mind.

On another note: Situations like the recent mass shooting are only difficult to understand by those who have not felt a similar rage or frustration that the shooter felt. Perhaps it is not that we haven’t felt those kind of emotions, we just don’t accept that what we feel is the same emotion… only profoundly stronger in the psyche of the shooter. If we did acknowledge that, it would mean, ‘there by the grace of God, go I’.

(1) Frankly, I've even noticed this emotional origin of understanding in science and math. If we are not emotionally on board with the topic (interested, receptive), we can't listen or contemplate nearly so well, and our difficulties multiply rapidly.

Note: This post is an offshoot from my recent post, My Weakest Link.