‘NOTHING GREAT IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE WORLD WITHOUT PASSION’ EMOTION ‘NOTHING GREAT IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE WORLD WITHOUT PASSION’ G.W.F. Hegel, 1770-1831

Emotion (objectives) Know how to define ‘emotion’ List the basic emotions Give one example how knowledge and emotions are linked Know what intuition is Compare the role of emotions in two Areas of Knowledge Know that culture affect emotional expression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQaEaUwNoiw Explain what emotional intelligence is

What is an emotion? Psychology defines "emotion" as a reaction that involves physiological changes, such as an accelerated pulse rate or change in body temperature There is a cognitive element to emotions i.e. our emotions are also influenced by our beliefs and viceversa

The nature of emotions ‘emotion’ is derived by the Latin verb movere meaning… It includes: feelings, passions and moods. It usually consists of various internal feelings and external forms of behavior, and it can vary in intensity (mild irritationblind anger) Passion= strong emotion A mood is an emotion that continues for a period of time

Contentment Sorrow Anger Enthusiasm Apathy Attraction Fear Happiness Contemplate and try to re-feel the following randomly listed emotions (and/or moods). Try to recall a certain situation when you experienced that kind of emotion/mood: Contentment Sorrow Anger Enthusiasm Apathy Attraction Fear Happiness Boredom Write down which of those emotions/moods feel good (are "positive") and which don’t feel good (are "negative"), and also those that feel neither good nor bad ("neutral"). Make your own definition/description of what is a "positive" and what is a "negative" emotion/mood.

Strong Negative Positive Weak Now, draw a scale on a large piece of paper, like this: Choose one emotion, which is neither positive nor clearly negative and put it at zero: Negative Positive Place each emotion on this scale according to the degree of its "positiveness" or "negativeness“, and its relative strength. Weak

Love for a Pet or a Landscape Contemplate about and try to re-feel some of the following more subtle emotions/feelings/moods. Try to fit those on your scale too. Link these emotions with the ones already on your scale (so that you put the similar category of emotions close to each other on the scale): Resentment Eagerness Pain Merriness Jealousy Hate Frustration Anxiety Pity Self-Pity Sadness Love Guilt Envy Pleasure Passion Covert hostility Appreciation Shame Annoyance Cynicism Interest Aesthetic Feeling Love for a Partner Love for a Pet or a Landscape When you have completely finished, compare and discuss your scale of emotions with those of others in your group.

Primary emotions There are six basic emotions, or primary emotions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6

Emotion Can you tell what emotion each person is experiencing?

Emotion Anger Fear Disgust Surprise Happiness Sadness

Primary emotions When photographs of faces displaying these states of mind are shown to people they can readily identify the relevant emotion, no matter what country they come from. Moreover, children who are born blind and deaf also show these emotions – which suggests that they are inborn rather than learnt.

The James-Lange Theory 1. The person perceives the stimulus (snake) The James-Lange Theory 2. Information about the snake is processed in the visual cortex (in the neo-cortex, the reasoning part of the brain). 3. An emotional response occurs in the amygdala. 4. The emotional response triggers a physical reaction, such as fighting or running away.

Counterclaim: Le Doux’s Theory thalamus Le Doux’s work revealed how the architecture of the brain gives the amygdala a privileged position as an emotional sentinel, able to hijack the brain. His research has shown that sensory signals from eye or ear travel first in the brain to the thalamus, and then to the amygdala; a second signal from the thalamus is routed to the neocortex – the thinking brain. This branching allows the amygdala to begin to respond before the neocortex, which mulls information through several levels of brain circuits before it fully perceives and finally initiates a more finely tailored response. (Goleman: 17) amygdala visual cortex Therefore, impulsive feeling does sometimes override the rational part of the brain.

When else might this happen? when we speak without thinking when we react on impulse (positive: to save someone’s life; negative: to hit someone) when we act on a ‘hunch’ (and turn out to be right…or very wrong) when we have irrational fears (phobias), such as a fear of that spider, even though it’s tiny! when we are filled with jealousy because our girlfriend / boyfriend is talking very sweetly (or so it seems) to someone else.

The James-Lange Theory Interpretation of specific physiological changes as the emotion Perception of emotion-arousing stimulus Specific physiological changes According to this theory, emotions are essentially physical in nature, and bodily changes come before, and cause, emotional charges. The theory also suggests that if you mimic the appropriate physical symptoms you can generate the corresponding emotion. E.g. if you smile, you will feel happy, and if you scowl you will feel angry. We can empathize with other people’s feelings by unconsciously mimicking some of the physical expressions of their mood. According to this theory, you are afraid because you run.

The Schachter-Singer Theory Perception of emotion-arousing stimulus Physiological responses Physiological responses can be interpreted in different ways – different people may label the same response as a different emotion. Cognitive identification of feedback from physiological responses as a particular emotion According to this theory, I feel my heart beating fast because I’m afraid. He feels his heart beating fast because he’s excited…

The Cannon-Bard Theory Conscious experience of emotion Perception of emotion-arousing stimulus General physiological changes The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that conscious feelings of emotion and physiological changes occur as separate but simultaneous reactions to external emotion-arousing stimuli. According to this theory, you feel fear at the sight of a bear even before you run away from it.

Quote: journal “The heart has reasons of which reason knows nothing” Blaise Pascal, 1623-62

The role of beliefs Our emotions have a mental as well as a physical aspect. They can also be affected by our beliefs. e.g. If you enter a badly lit cellar and see a snake in the corner, you will probably be frightened. But if you discover that it is not a snake but a coiled rope, your fear will vanish.

Emotional energy A passion for a subject: emotions provide us with the energy to engage in intellectual activity What do you think are the main qualities that make a person a good teacher? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Emotions as an obstacle to knowledge Strong emotions can sometimes distort the three other ways of knowing Perception: biased perception Reason: fallacious reasoning Language: emotive language

Emotions as an obstacle to knowledge E.g. Henry has an emotional prejudice against immigrants Biased perception: he notices only lazy immigrants and overlooks hardworking ones Fallacious reasoning: he makes hasty generalizations from his own limited experience Emotive language: he concludes that immigrants are ‘bone idle’ and ‘don’t know the meaning of hard work’

Emotions as an obstacle to knowledge Emotions can also lead us to make poor decisions e.g. some emotions are urgent and shortsighted and can easily blind us to the long term consequences of our actions In ancient times, a group of philosophers known as the Stoics advocated a state of mind called apathy – literally ‘without passion’ in which the mind could mirror reality in a calm and untroubled way. Can you imagine a human life without emotions? If so, try to characterize what it might be like. If not, explain why not

Emotions as source of knowledge Mr. Spock: what impelled him to explore strange new worlds? Intellectual curiosity Drive to set and solve problems Solidarity with allies Emotions help us to make rational decisions about things by narrowing down our options so that we can choose between a manageable number of them

Emotions as source of knowledge What role do you think is usually played by reason and emotion when people decide which university to apply to? What role do you think each of these should play?

Reason and emotions Since you got up this morning, how much time have you spent thinking and how much time feeling? What does this suggest about the relationship between thinking and feeling? Can you ever feel literally nothing? Can you ever think literally nothing?

Rational emotions Anyone can be angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way – that is not easy. Aristotele 384-322 B.C. An emotion that is sensitive to the real nature of a situation is more rational than one that is not.

(ir)rational emotions Paul has arranged to meet Tom at 3:00 p.m. Tom arrives at 3:02 p.m. and apologizes for being late. Paul starts screaming and shouting about Tom’s lack of consideration and completely loses his self control The hospital phones Judy with some terrible news. Her boyfriend has been assaulted by some hooligans and is lying unconscious in the intensive care unit. ‘oh dear’, she says, ‘that is annoying! I was going to play tennis this afternoon, but I suppose I had better come and visit him’.

(ir)rational emotions Since you are much more likely to die in a car on the way to the airport than you are in a plane, would you agree that the fear of flying is an irrational fear? How would you explain it?

Emotion Emotional Intelligence An ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3000

Emotional intelligence In action

Intuition Intuition: more a matter of feeling than of thinking It’s a moment of insight when you suddenly see the solution to a problem without going through any conscious process of reasoning It’s also our ‘sixth sense’ hunches about things

Intuition Core intuitions: our most fundamental intuitions about life, the universe and everything Subject-specific intuitions: the intuitions we have in various areas of knowledge such as science or ethics Social intuitions: our intuitions about other people, what they are like, whether or not they can be trusted, etc. The school of thought called romanticism emphasizes the importance of the emotions for making sense of the world A major objection to the claim that intuition is an important source of knowledge is that different people have conflicting intuitions

Subject specific intuitions Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, bright, and very much involved in social issues like disarmament and equal rights. Which of the following statements is more likely? Linda is a bank teller Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement

Subject specific intuitions Imagine that you are standing on a large flat plain holding a bullet in your left hand and a loaded gun in your right hand. If you fire the gun horizontally and at the same instant drop the bullet from your left hand, which of the two bullets will hit the ground first? Take a soccer match with 11 players on each side and a referee. What are the odds of two people on the field sharing the same birthday?

Conclusion Emotions provide the energy that fuels intellectual endeavour. Some of our deepest beliefs about the world seem to be as much intuitive matters of the heart as rational matters of the head. Strong emotions can easily cloud our judgment Despite their value, intuitions do not have any magical authority

The four ways of knowing: conclusions All knowledge tools are double edged: so, rather than rely on one way of knowing, we need to test them against one another when trying to establish the truth The step beyond that is to compare our own opinions with those of other people to see how they stand up in the free market of ideas

Emotion: key points Emotions are relevant to the search of knowledge because they provide us with energy, affect our thinking and are sometimes used to justify our beliefs. The six primary emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust are found in all cultures The James-Lange theory says that the emotions are essentially physical in nature; but they also seem to be influenced by our beliefs The emotions are sometimes an obstacle to knowledge and strong emotions can color our perception, distort our logic and inflame our language Nevertheless, emotions give meaning and color to our lives and studies of brain-damaged patients suggest that without them we would become ‘rational fools’ Rather than think of reason and emotion as opposites, it may make more sense to say that our emotions can themselves be more or less rational Intuition is an immediate insight into something, and we can distinguish core intuitions, subject specific intuitions and social intuitions While there is a sense in which all knowledge is based on intuition, the problem is that people have conflicting intuitions Our intuitive beliefs about many subjects are not very reliable and it could be argued that one of the aims of education is to debug human intuition

Emotion: terms to investigate and remember Apathy Debugging intuition Emotional coloring Emotive language Empathy Intuitions James-Lange theory Primary emotions Rational fool Romanticism Social emotion stoicism