Emotions as a Way of Knowing:
I don’t know what came over me

Introduction:
When we make such statements as the one above, we are revealing our feeling that we should rely more on reason (rationalism) than emotion as the means by which to behave; in other words, we think reason ought to be in control.

This is not necessarily the case, particularly not for all cases.
After all, feelings matter a great deal.
The Etymology of the word emotions: 
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=emotion
1570s, "a (social) moving, stirring, agitation," from Middle French émotion (16c.), from Old French emouvoir "stir up" (12c.), from Latin emovere "move out, remove, agitate," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + movere "to move" (see move (v.)). Sense of "strong feeling" is first recorded 1650s; extended to any feeling by 1808.
From emotions emerge moods (which are like extended metaphors..emotions that last over a period of time.

James-Lange Theory of Emotion
 
Description
We have experiences, and as a result, our autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular tension, heart rate increases, perspiration, dryness of the mouth, etc. This theory proposes that emotions happen as a result of these, rather than being the cause of them.
The sequence thus is as follows:
Event ==> arousal ==> interpretation ==> emotion
The bodily sensation prepares us for action, as in the Fight-or-Flight reaction. Emotions grab our attention and at least attenuate slower cognitive processing.
This is not a new theory and was proposed in 1884. It combined the ideas of William James and Danish physiologist Carl Lange, who largely independently arrived at the same conclusion. William James described it thus:
"My theory ... is that the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion. Common sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we are insulted by a rival, and angry and strike. The hypothesis here to be defended says that this order of sequence is incorrect ... and that the more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble ... Without the bodily states following on the perception, the latter would be purely cognitive in form, pale, colorless, destitute of emotional warmth. We might then see the bear, and judge it best to run, receive the insult and deem it right to strike, but we should not actually feel afraid or angry"
Lange particularly added that vasomotor changes are the emotions.
It was largely supplanted by the Cannon-Bard theory (emotions first leading to physiological response), but of late, it has made something of a come-back, although the notion of causality is not as strong and there is ongoing uncertainty as to the chicken-and-egg question of which comes first, physiological and emotional feelings.
Example
I see a bear. My muscles tense, my heart races. I feel afraid.
So What?
Using it
Watch people's physiological signals (facial color, etc.) and deduce what emotions will result.

Example: Watch a little child watch the faces of others around him after he falls. When does he cry? If he doesn’t, what is often the reason why?

Defending
Notice your own physical feelings and muse about how these lead to emotion. 

If you could relax deliberately, would you feel better?

SOURCE:

http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/james_lange_emotion.htm

From this theory comes a better understanding of empathy (versus sympathy) – that you unconsciously mimic the physical expressions of the mood of another.

How does mood spread?

Primary Emotions						Social Emotions

Happiness							ambition             
Sadness							contempt
Fear								embarrassment
Surprise							envy
Anger								gratitude
Disgust
Joy								guilt
Anticipation							Indignation
								Jealousy
								Pride
								Shame
								Sympathy

In part our emotions respond to that which has not happened (anticipation of future events) based on what we have experienced (the past). 

Emotions are affected by the physical; the mental and the belief system; belief system is that which links back to bias (perception) and the environment in which we experience events (senses and familial and educative surroundings, for example).

Emotions AFFECT Beliefs AND Beliefs AFFECT Emotions

Other animals appear to lack the range of complexity of many distinctly human emotions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aZM_Y37FBI&safety_mode=true&safe=active&persist_safety_mode=1

For example, think of someone with whom you have had conflict; does the anticipation of meeting that person again generate emotional response; does that emotional response in turn generation physical manifestations?

Theory is (in part) that just as emotions affect our bodies, they affect our beliefs and vice versa. Thus, if we change our beliefs (afraid of the water? Take swimming lessons…the only way to swim is in the water) we can change our emotions.

Rumi: The cure for pain is in the pain. Explain what this means.

List as many as you can of the following: 

Expressions we use about our bodies which actually reflect our moods.

Example: A pain in the neck.

My friend got dumped. She felt sad. She ate a whole tub of Duncan Hynes icing. She felt sick...and sad. We tend to give into temptation. We know we shouldn't... But it's so enticing...in the moment.

Emotions as Energy:

Emotion connects to knowledge in the energy they provide to/drain from our intellectual curiosity,
Passion is one such consideration.
Autotelos is another (how driven are we in the intrinsic value of an exercise; task; pursuit.
They provide us with the energy to engage in intellectual stimulation
Think of inventors, writers, artists, scientists and all the time ‘wasted’ in the pursuit of their craft; what sustains those people is PASSION.

Emotional Energy Passion: with persistence. The drive to continue even when things are difficult. What sustains us.

What are the benefits and what are the drawbacks to being ‘ruled’ by passion?

Think of some of the unusual pitches on Dragons Den and how much people have invested. 

Emotions as a Way of knowing:

1.	Emotions can be an obstacle to Knowing 
2.	Emotions as a source of knowledge
3.	Intuition

Emotion as a Way of knowing:

1.	Emotions can blight/hamper our perception;  if we come to a situation with the ‘emotional baggage’ of past similar experiences, we may exert negative emotions; if we come to situations ‘blindly’ engaged in only the attributes, we may fail to see the drawbacks that also need to be addressed. No one is all good, nor all bad.

2.	Emotions can affect our ability to reason negatively; to hold beliefs too rigidly: that which is the one right path, can lead to narrow mindedness, obdurate behavior, resistance to accept, resistance to change.

3.	Emotions can color our language; depending on the stance our language will likely be connotative rather than denotative and emotionally charged so that pejorative terms, derogatory words and tones are applied OR conversely language that too effusively colors the subject (person or event) to be beyond that of actuality. No one really loves peas. Nor should any six year old kill her opponent on the soccer field.

The role of connotative language as in interplays with emotions

	It illustrates bias and subjectivity

	We emotionally taint (color) situations

	Too much passion may prevent/shut down open dialogue.
The one right path does not exist; the my way or the highway stance is detrimental to uncovering the paradigms of other perspectives

What role do emotions play in our mental lives?

How does emotion “brush up against” rationalism?

Rationalisations:

Emotional attitudes may cause us to invent reasons why we support/reject something. More so, when we experience conflict between two or more beliefs we hold come into play. We try to rationalize away that which causes us discomfort. After all, Shakespeare is not ‘stoopid.’ We just may not understand either the form (language) or the content (story) but there is no disputing he was a man of great talent for writing.

Powerful emotions lead to:

 		Biased Perception which leads to:

 			Fallacious Reasoning(hasty generalizations) which leads to:

Emotive language 

which leads to Powerful emotions.

When we get ‘caught up’ in our emotions, we tend not to reason in an objective way; rather we rationalize our pre-existing prejudices.
	Thus, we may fall back on bad or faulty reasoning to ‘justify’ our emotional attitude

	That riddles are dumb...when we do not solve them.

	Thus, powerful emotions (love; anger; excitement; joy; grief) can lead us to 

	Biased perception (think of Dodi al Fayad’s father claim that the Royal Family wa prejudiced) which in turn leads to

	Faulty reasoning (he later claimed it was a plot by the British Crown which killed his son., ignoring the evidence of intoxication, high speed and absence of seat belts )which in turn leads to

	Emotional connotative language

	On a more local level, one could examine the perception of ‘the average student”

	Biased perception:	Students are lazy and do not take advantage of the 					opportunities before them

Faulty reasoning:	Based on my prior limited experience with one or two 					students, I assume their lack of interest is because of 					laziness (eliminating the possibility of other factors: 						learning disability; illness; lack of sleep; problems in 						personal life, etc)

Emotional connotative
	Language:		I am sick and tired of trying to teach a bunch of 						good-for-nothing layabouts who think they are entitled 					to good grades for nothing.

The way to avoid this framework is to constantly question established paradigms.

IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR  

Consider the teenage brain

Some emotions are urgent and short sighted.

They can cause lack of focus and lack of consideration of longer term consequences 

Posting an insult online (in the moment) without consideration of where it 	‘travels’; who will see it; the impact it may have; the anonymity of	cyber-bullying

Turbulent emotions can distort our ability to think clearly; to behave intelligently, it might be argued that the ideal situation is one in which we do not have any emotions at all.

(Plato and mimesis)

(Stoicism..to adopt a stance that an apathetic approach is the best path; after all, if we do not feel, we will never know the sting of rejection nor the pain of loss)

Can you imagine A life without emotions?  An ancient philosophy held by Stoics and known as apathy. 

Apathy: without passion. 

What kind of problems might come with this?

What would it be like...to live without passion?

One of Antonio Dimasio’s theories is that we need emotions to assist us in narrowing our options. Things we do not like we will reject or abandon. Things we love we will pursue. Only then will choice be manageable.

Emotions can alter our others ways of knowing... 
We can easily alter perception based on our prior experiences with certain people. We can favor some people and judge others harshly. 

Reason can be negatively affected by emotion... A too strongly held belief can distort any rational response, or lead to the One Right Path stance.

Language... How we feel when we speak about particular situations or when in particular situations can determine the words we use. Think about how we use pronouns as a form of distancing ourselves.

Really effective speeches work in large part because of their underlying emotional appeal.

Conversely, think of what people say from the sidelines of sporting events.

When we are led by our emotions, we are not as reasonable as we attempting to rationalize our per-existing prejudices.  If we hold certain emotional attitudes, we may create bad reasons in order to justify it. 

 "good cases make bad laws. " consider how people use the media to get at Eastern Health when their initial requests were denied. 

Why do so many games of Risk and Monopoly end with someone calling the board game stupid? Why do we call tests stupid?

We lose any sense of Objectivity then. Rather we present irrational behavior ... Have you ever sent an email or text in an angry moment that is then followed by regret? 

"A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.  We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief."

Leon Festinger

Think Conspiracy!!!

REASON AND EMOTION:

	Consider this to be a continuum. We are constantly moving between the poles of 	emotion on one hand and reason on the other.

	Emotions, themselves, can be more or less rational.

	They possess both a mental and a physical aspect.
	
	As previously noted, a change in belief (the statue of Jesus in my grandfather’s 	basement IS not a super sized human; the branch against the window is not 	someone attempting to break in) affects a change in corresponding emotion.

	An emotion that is more sensitive (aware) to the real nature of the situation is 	more rational (aligned with; accurate) than one that is not.

	Also, we must consider (factor in) that we may have--we may express--emotions 	that are irrational and that we find difficult to change. SEE website to read about 	the Apple juice/fudge experiment

	Romanticism: unlike Stoicism which falls under the auspice of philosophy, 	Romanticism was a literary movement. They espoused that the way to make 	sense of the world was by our emotions.