[quote=njtosd][quote=FlyerInHi][quote=Blogstar]
What results represent an unimpassioned piece of wood? That kind is uncomfortable for me. Want to hit them with some electricity or something. Not crazy about really difficult people but the complete stiff is the worst.[/quote]
Hey, I practiced becoming zen and unperturbed. It makes life so much easier. You can invest and make decisions rationally.
It also helps you not desire things that are not good for you. It makes you more observant of things around you and helps you objectively look at the foibles of humans.[/quote]
Emotion is crucial to good decision making. Patient named Elliott had brain surgery which resulted in an inability to feel emotion. Here was the result:
“. . . At the time, neuroscience assumed that human emotions were irrational. A person without emotions should therefore make better decisions. His cognition should be uncorrupted. The charioteer should have complete control. To Damasio, Elliot’s pathology suggested emotions are a crucial part of decision-making. Cut off from our feelings, the most banal decisions become impossible. A brain that can’t feel can’t make up its mind.”
Thanks for sharing that interesting article, njtosd. Very interesting to see what happens if a person’s emotional capacity is greatly compromised.
One thought that occurred to me while reading about that case was that his failures happened in relationships (which require emotions), whether in his marriage or work. Even at work, we have to relate to employers, employees, coworkers, customers, vendors, etc. The absence of emotion, and the absence of a moral compass that would require emotional understanding, would make it almost impossible to succeed in anything requiring us to deal with other people. The fact that he failed at these things probably shouldn’t be surprising.
But we are also looking at it from the perspective of an emotional creature. Humans rely heavily on socialization because we are herd/tribal animals. If we’re stranded on a deserted island, or in a wild forest, the first thing most of us will do is seek out other humans to help us. We cannot live without each other, with very few exceptions…if that.
Because of this, we are judging this man’s actions only from our emotional perspective. Maybe, if we could create a world where people would never have to interact with or rely on other humans, things would work out better for Elliot than for the rest of us. We’re looking at this case from a very biased perspective.
