Chapter 22
Emotions: The palette for our lives
Emotions are complex psychological and physiological states involving subjective experience (how they feel internally), bodily arousal (like a flushed face), and expressive behavior (facial expressions). Unlike fleeting moods, emotions are usually triggered by specific events or thoughts. Look at the four friends in the picture above. They just witnessed their clumsy buddy Jason drop a huge tray of food and drink meant for snacking during the big game. There are six universal, facially expressed emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. We can easily see which four of these are depicted in the drawing.
Humans have other, more complex emotions. These are blended and socially shaped feelings like love, envy, jealousy, shame, guilt, pride, and empathy. Finally, there are moral emotions like compassion, indignation, admiration, gratitude, and forgiveness.
What about the neurology of
emotion? In the brain, emotions engage wide neural networks – including the
amygdala (our brain’s alarm system), insula (which processes bodily feelings
like disgust), prefrontal cortex (which regulates and interprets emotions),
hippocampus (which links emotions with memory), and hypothalamus (which
coordinates autonomic and hormonal responses to emotions).
Emotions also trigger our
sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) systems.
Our heart rate and blood pressure increase, pupils dilate, muscles tense, and
digestion slows (sympathetic). Our body calms after intense emotions, our heart
rate slows, and our digestion returns to normal.
Emotions have a hormonal
component. Adrenaline prepares our body for immediate action by increasing our
pulse and pumping blood to our muscles. Cortisol mobilizes our energy. Dopamine
motivates us and brings pleasure. Serotonin stabilizes our mood. Oxytocin
impacts our capacity for love, trust, and attachment.
Finally, emotions are physically
manifested for others to see. As portrayed above, emotions are displayed on our
faces. Our posture reflects sadness (slumping) and pride (erect stance). The
tone, pitch, and speed of our speech vary. We experience visceral sensations
such as butterflies in our stomach, chest tightening, and a lump in our throat.
What purposes do emotions serve
humans? Psychologists suggest four primary functions.
- Survival: Fear prepares the body to fight or flee; disgust protects against toxins.
- Communication: Facial expressions and tone convey feelings to others without words.
- Decision-making: Emotions guide choices by signaling values and risks
- Social cohesion: Shared emotions like joy, grief, or outrage strengthen community bonds.
While basic emotions are
universal, their expression and interpretation are shaped by culture. Some
cultures value emotional constraint (e.g., British stoicism or the Japanese
value of wa), while others value the opposite (e.g., Italian passion and Yankee
enthusiasm). In all cultures, the ability to manage and balance emotions is the
key to well-being.
God and/or Nature gave us
emotions, presumably, as a survival mechanism, and they continue to serve that
function. However, emotions can just as easily betray us. Here are some of the
ways:
- Fear and Panic can cause heart arrhythmia and lead to accidents.
- Anger can cause hypertension and heart attacks or lead to reckless behavior and violence.
- Sadness and Depression can cause weakened immunity or lead to self-harm
- Anxiety and Chronic Stress can cause immune suppression and lead to substance abuse or burnout.
- Shame and Guilt can cause increased cortisol and reduced serotonin and lead to social withdrawal and even suicide.
Of course, there are countermeasures
we can take to mitigate the above risks, which we will cover in Chapter 68.
In summary, human emotions link body,
mind, and society. They not only serve a survival function but also give
richness and meaning to life. Without emotions, we would not simply lose
pleasure or passion - we would lose much of what makes us human. Emotions
enrich our lives, connect us to others, warn us of danger, inspire creativity,
and motivate action. They can also mislead, overwhelm, and betray us. Like
every other aspect of human nature, they are neither good nor bad in
themselves. They are tools shaped by evolution. Learning when to trust them - and
when to question them - is part of learning to survive human nature.
In the next chapter, we will discuss what happens when various elements of our human nature clash. To illustrate that concept, we will use another model – a variation of the Human Nature Process, created by your author.