Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Emotions are the elementary forces of the mind





In the words of French philosopher Francois de La Rochefoucauld, "if we resist our passion, it is more due to their weakness than our strength." Emotions also play a significant role in intellectual abilities because feelings-based decision-making is far superior to artificial intelligence. Yet, while the essential function of recognizing a person is within a range of artificial capabilities, emotions remain elusive. 

For example, the emotional nature of memories enables a dog to stay away from someone who mistreated him. Emotions are subjective, but their extraordinary decision-making power can help distinguish the perpetrator's face from the police lineup, recognize our childhood home, or the overture of a classical opera. Feelings make consciousness an incomputable process, utterly different from the physical processes accompanying it. Therefore, not only the blind but all emotional creatures 'feel' their way around.

Of course, what is scientifically very difficult to propose and prove, philosophers and artists intuitively knew for a long, long time. For example, music is an international language that communicates emotions. We can identify with a Chinese folk song or an Italian opera aria via the feelings they convey. Because music expresses sentiments, it can talk about love but never about the stock market or the global economy. 

Emotions are not evolutionary accidents but the primary motivation and survival tools of the animals that have them. With them, dangers can be overcome, and opportunities found. We are good, generous, and trusting because of our emotions. On the other hand, we betray others, commit a crime, and feel remorse because of them. Emotions are much more powerful than we acknowledge, and we cannot even recognize the extent they play in our lives because we identify with them. Therefore, emotions are the fundamental forces of motivation. The book the science of consciousness discusses the many consequences of this fact for mental operation

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