Almost all definitions of the word "emotion" describe it as a "conscious" mental reaction. However, how can we possibly be conscious of our emotions and yet let them control us instead of controlling them? Emotions are what define our actions. Some of us might prefer to believe that we always base our actions on logic and reason. Nevertheless, those who tell themselves that emotions do not take control over them are simply lying to themselves. There are multiple examples of emotions taking over us in our every day life. For instance, take a person who has just been humiliated by two other people who are must bigger and stronger than him. He is angry at them and punches one in the face without thinking about it twice. Logically, his actions were not based upon reason since, if they would have been, he would have thought of the following facts: they are more than him and they are capable of inflicting more damage than him. Our actions can't always be based upon reason. Even so, sometimes we can decide how we want to use them. In today's society, those who seem to succeed the most are those who do not allow emotions to control them. Instead, they decide to do what is more advantageous for them. For example, think of the Marshmallow Experiment we went through during class, where a group of children were given a marshmallow and were told that if they were able not to eat in x time, they would receive another one. Those children who did not eat their marshmallow and waited for the time to pass were proved to be more succesful later on in life than those who could not control themselves and ate it.
Someone once told me that we can't control our emotions since our emotions are part of our body and we are our body. At first, I did not understand. This puzzling statement has stayed in my mind for years and a few weeks ago everything suddenly made sense. What this person meant was that our body does things even if we do not want to. I realized this when I paid a compliment to a friend. I could tell she did not want to blush. However, she was unable to control her body and flushed. What this proves is that some of our emotions are strong enough to control our body. In other words, some of our emotions caused by what is around us or what we think of can control us. Biology attempts to find logical explanations for this and come up with hypotheses such as that of chemcials in our bodies being the ones that make us blush.
I believe that emotions do have the power to control our bodies but not our actions. What I mean by this is that they may be able to make us blush or other such things but they can't force us to do something. Yes, they might be the ones giving us the thought of doing it but they are not the ones deciding what we do, we are. Our subconscious tells us about things we possibly wouldn't have thought of consciously but then it is up to us to decide what to do with this information. What is your opinion on this?
Do you agree with the bold statement above? Why/not?
Do you believe we let emotions control us or this is simply something we invent in order to be able to provide simple but irrational explanations to our actions?
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” -Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Someone once told me that we can't control our emotions since our emotions are part of our body and we are our body. At first, I did not understand. This puzzling statement has stayed in my mind for years and a few weeks ago everything suddenly made sense. What this person meant was that our body does things even if we do not want to. I realized this when I paid a compliment to a friend. I could tell she did not want to blush. However, she was unable to control her body and flushed. What this proves is that some of our emotions are strong enough to control our body. In other words, some of our emotions caused by what is around us or what we think of can control us. Biology attempts to find logical explanations for this and come up with hypotheses such as that of chemcials in our bodies being the ones that make us blush.
I believe that emotions do have the power to control our bodies but not our actions. What I mean by this is that they may be able to make us blush or other such things but they can't force us to do something. Yes, they might be the ones giving us the thought of doing it but they are not the ones deciding what we do, we are. Our subconscious tells us about things we possibly wouldn't have thought of consciously but then it is up to us to decide what to do with this information. What is your opinion on this?
Do you agree with the bold statement above? Why/not?
Do you believe we let emotions control us or this is simply something we invent in order to be able to provide simple but irrational explanations to our actions?
“I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” -Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
This is really interesting, Alvaro… I think you are right. You cannot help having an emotional reaction to something that affects you, but you can sometimes prevent the feeling taking you over and acting on it… Little kids can't do this. They have to learn it, and at first get really frustrated when they cannot act on their impulses. However, there is also something adorable about the spontaneity of children (which is why we were all so entertained by the marshmallow kids..) We love the way we can SEE what they are feeling on their faces and in their gestures… As we grow older, we hide a lot of what is going on, but the seismograph is still taking readings…. If we showed a bit more of what we feel we might be able to connect with others better. Don't we let friends and family see more of our emotional states than others? (Which doesn't always feel like a privilege!) Is emotion a way of knowing that we are repressing out of fear of exposing too much and making ourselves vulnerable?
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