Hulk SMASH! Also, Hulk Writes, Runs, Builds, and Creates . . .

. . . while Spock is still trying to figure out which pen to use.

(Note: I could not find ONE "crossover" Spock/Hulk image, and I'm too lazy to create one. So instead, you get this.)

(How can there not be one Spock/Hulk image mashup out there? I couldn't even find any Spock/Hulk fanfiction. I am beginning to lose faith in the IntraWebs.)

In How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer discusses the behavior of a patient ("Elliot”) who had a brain tumor removed. Elliot was exceptionally intelligent before the operation, and remained so afterward. However, he almost completely lost the ability to make decisions. When it came to deciding between a red pen and a blue pen, or deciding where to eat, it was almost impossible for him to make decisions. He was fired, tried to start businesses, which failed, was taken in by a con man . . . tough life, all around.

Later, doctors examined him, and found that the operation rendered him essentially emotionless, unaffected by the world around him. EKG readings confirmed that when Elliott shown scary or disturbing images -- specifically, the following:

 

 . . . he remained impassive. 

Emotions are what drive us to make decisions – and to make decisions without any emotion at all is extremely difficult. This suggests that humans are the most emotional beings on the planet, not the least, our intellect notwithstanding. As Lehrer says, "A brain that can’t feel, can’t make up its mind."

I don't mean to imply that I fear this Buddhist quest will lead to a cud-chewing Prozac-ian mellowness in which one never does anything. After all, two of the hindrances (Doubt and Torpor) are concerned directly with inaction, and another (Anger/Aversion) is much more often destructive than constructive. 

It does mean that depending on where one's mind is at the beginning of this quest, one probably should focus on different hindrances. If your problem is Doubt and Torpor, the last thing you need is to make sure that that Restlessness hindrances has been sufficiently beaten down. 

The Grumpy Buddha is one of those folks -- meaning that, as logical as he is, he is recognizing the benefits of being a little less like this: 

and a little more like this:

Err, um, where did that come from? I meant to say, more like this:

H'm. The Grumpy Buddha likes the feathers, but the color scheme won't work with his eyes. How about . . .

. . . that's a wee bit too angry, and His Grumpiness has the occasional flash of a problem in that area. 

No, what we're aiming for is:

Yeah. That's it.