The Secondary Choice as Being Motivated

To an evader, a feeling of some kind is more important than truth. A man finds a certain fact or policy to be unpleasant, frightening, or guilt-provoking. Reality to the contrary notwithstanding, he does not want the fact to be real or the policy to be necessary; so he decides to blank out the offending datum. Or a certain idea or policy gives a man pleasure, reassurance, or relief, and he wants to believe in or practice it, even though he knows that reality is against him in the issue; so he decides to blank out what he knows. Both such men, in Ayn Rand‘s words, place an “I wish” above an “It is.”

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Unlike the basic choice to be in or out of focus, the choice to evade a specific content is motivated, the motive being the particular feeling that the evader elevates above reality. But such a feeling is merely a precondition, not a cause or explanation; the choice to capitulate to it is irreducible. No matter what his emotions, a sane man retains the power to face facts. If an emotion is overwhelming, he retains the power to recognize this and to defer cognition until he can establish a calmer mood. Just as man has the capacity to place feelings above facts, so he has the capacity not to do so, to remain reality-oriented by an act of will, despite any temptation to the contrary. This, too, is an aspect of volition subsumed under the primary choice: to focus or not. The words “or not” cover both passive drift and active evasion.¹