In recent years, many children's movies declare one overt message, "follow your heart." However, rarely is the question asked, "what if my heart is leading me down a hurtful path?" For example, my heart may repeatedly urge me to eat that second piece of cake, or just one more drink, yet reason calls me to moderation. I may desire to lay sedated on the sofa every evening flipping through the endless selection of channels on television, but logic calls me to exercise and expand my mind through reading. My heart may prod me to betray a friend in order to save face, yet my mind recalls the value of loyalty and friendship.
Rene Descartes concluded that people have an existence beyond the mere physical body evidenced by the reality that we are thinking, rational beings. He summarized this philosophy in his famous Latin phrase, "cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore, I am"). Descartes reflected, "What is it that I am? A thinking thing. What is a thinking thing? It is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, abstains from willing, that also can be aware of images and sensations."
To merely "follow your heart" is to deny one's existence as a rational, cognitive being and reduces oneself to a mere physical creature prone to whims of passion and actions devoid of sound judgment. An ancient Hebrew proverb states, "the mind of one who has understanding seeks knowledge."
As Professor Digory in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia put it, "Logic! Why don't they teach logic at these schools?"
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