ALL,
I don't believe that we have turned over "all" our decision-making to the intellect. If we had, the human race would be much farther along in its evolution. In fact, a reading of human history shows the opposite - most of humanity's larger decisions have come from acting on feelings rather than intellect (see: The War in Iraq). Most poor decisions made in individuals' lives (extra-marital affairs, for an example) come from over-reliance on emotion rather than intellect.
If the Buddha had relied on feeling and emotion, he never would have left his family to find "enlightenment." Buddha (as far as we know) taught that attachment to people and things (suffering, by way of emotion) was the issue that condemned our souls to the wheel of reincarnation, correct? The way to break the cycle was the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths - the essence of all being the intellectual understanding that we are all connected as aspects of God, and that true compassion for All leads to enlightenment.
The essence of Buddhism is balance, is it not?
Balanced ego is essential to human development, both as individuals and as a species. I think it's the IMBALANCE in individual egos and in the collective ego (or reality or consciousness) that causes problems for us.
If we discount the ego, we discount intellect. I don't think that serves any of us too well. There are way too many people out there who don't think before they decide...they react emotionally and act on that reaction. And then karma kicks in...
Ken
