Science Is Not Everything in Life

Abstract

Our lives are built up from the opportunities that come our way and the decisions we take. Some of those decisions are inspired by our convictions and our feelings as much as by knowledge and reason. It would be absurd to ignore the role of emotion in our lives and choose our path through life in the light of knowledge and reason alone. For example, among the most important things in our lives are the development of romantic relationships, sometimes associated with raising a family. In the West, at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, the decisions we make over these matters are largely guided by our feelings and almost never involve social or economic issues.