Logical Thinking versus Intuitive Thinking

[kiricat4001]

No: HPFGUIDX 150020

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Kathryn Jones <kjones at ...> 
wrote:
>
 
>     As a result of a related thread on another list, I am curious 
to 
> know what the opinions are about how JKR presents logical rational 
> thought on the part of some of her characters and the intuitive, 
> instinctive thought of others.  Snape is used in the books to 
> demonstrate logical progressive thinking, taking information in, 
> relating it to other information, and spitting out an answer.
> 
>     Hermione, on the other hand, researches, quotes chapter and 
verse, 
> learns what she is taught, but does little imaginative thinking, 
other 
> than the charmed coins. Again, however, that was learned from a 
book.
> 
>     I think it was in PoA where James and Sirius were regarded as 
the 
> brightest wizards of their age, quite inventive and imaginative. 
They 
> learned on their own to become animagi, and developed the Map.
> 
>     Harry and Ron are quite different from each other in that Ron 
can 
> see things developing ahead. Harry is the typical gung-ho 
Gryffindor, 
> none of whom have survived long. Harry looks no further ahead than 
his 
> immediate goal.
> 
>     Luna works on a completely illogical, other world basis, and 
Crabbe 
> and Goyle have not shared a thought between them.
> 
>     Is there a message in this? Will any of it relate to the final 
> resolution? Does she prefer one form of thought or reasoning from 
> another, or does she find a place for all? How does Dumbledore fit 
into 
> the scheme of things?  Is he a consummate Gryffindor or 
chessmaster?
> More importantly, does anybody care:-)


Marianne:

I don't know if there is an overall message that JKR is trying to 
portray, although I'll go out on a limb and say that the walking 
blockheads that are Crabbe and Goyle are not held up as examples 
that anyone should emulate!

I'd be willing to bet that JKR's not trying to say that intuitive 
thinkers are better than rational thinkers or the reverse. I think 
that, if she intends a message at all, it is that a person is best 
off if they can balance the rational and the intuitive within 
themselves.

It seems to me that she sometimes puts characters into one camp or 
the other and then reveals the occasional weakness of these 
characters when they stick to either the logical or the emotional.  
For instance, Snape, although a smart man and one who deals 
logically with problems, cannot use logic or smarts or any other 
intellectual method of dealing with all of his old hurts and grudges 
that center on anything related to the word "Potter." Rather, he 
can't always harness his emotions where these hot-button issues are 
concerned.

And Hermione, who is as smart as anyone, has trouble looking beyond 
book knowledge to understanding the emotional, intuitive sides of 
people. She is pretty dismissive of Luna for most of OoP in no small 
part because Luna's thought processes are so foreign to her own. 
Yet, Luna is the one who most gives Harry a lifeline after Sirius's 
death because she can relate emotionally to losing a loved one. But, 
Luna herself, however, is a bit too other-worldly to take seriously 
all the time, too.

As far as Dumbledore is concerned, I think he has both qualities, 
but occasionally loses track of them.  He does not always understand 
the emotional underpinnings of the people around him.  Or, perhaps 
another way of looking at it is that he assumes that they, like him, 
can put their own emotions aside for the greater good.  I'm thinking 
here about DD's assessment of the Occlumency lessons where he admits 
that he gave too little consideration to Snape's inability to 
overcome his feelings regarding James Potter. 

What all this means is anyone's guess.  Maybe the end result will be 
that Harry will find a way to use the strengths, intuitive or 
rational, of his allies to defeat Voldemort, rather than he himself 
having to be the one to blend the two together.  

Interesting question, KJ.

Marianne