Believe it or not, I do think there is a place for emotion in rational debate. I know that many here are of the mind that emotional bias can corrupt the conclusions of debate and skew narratives, and I agree to a certain extent. But I do believe that there is a time and a place that emotional intelligence is as important as rational intelligence.

Let us say for the sake of example that there is a mass shooting. In this shooting, let us say that 10 people were killed, not including the gunman. Now at the same time, let us also say that while the shooting was happening, ten other people simultaneously died in different ways for different reasons that were not murder.

(I'm sure plenty of you know where this is going but bear with me.)

Which of these things is more urgent or important? The ten people who were murdered or the ten people who died from accidental causes or illnesses or what have you?

Logically, we should say they are equal because the death count is the same! But I think everyone knows which one is worse, because murder is an intentional thing, and it requires malevolent intent. It's inherently emotional for all involved. You can pretend that a mass shooting and a medical error are the same on paper because the same amount of body bags get filled, because it's nothing more than hiding from the fact that there are widespread problems of violence that aren't being fixed. You know it, the victims knew it, and the survivors know it.

A murder is an emotional act, and death is an emotional subject. Whether or not we pretend that any death has no emotional toll is irrelevant because the truth is that humans are emotionally driven and empathetic by nature. Nobody witnesses murder firsthand and doesn't at least flinch. Some deaths are inevitable because humans die. It's what they're built for. But there really isn't much of an excuse for mass murder, because not only is it unnecessary but it's also a malevolent act. And it's an act that can be prevented, should the proper measures be taken.

Don't hide behind pure logic and rationality. It can't always help. Sometimes you need to acknowledge the emotional weight of information and act accordingly. If we were playing a numbers game with human lives we would be losing, and right now that's exactly what's happening.

*Side note: don't bring politics into this thread. This is purely a thread about the emotional side of debate and how it can be important. I don't have the energy to read any half-baked bullshit from either side about gun control, terrorism, white supremacy, or Donald Trump, etc. And this is not a request.