Please respond to at least two of the following questions.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
4. To what degree is
emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human
beings? To what extent is it shaped by
culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
2. Yes, there is knowledge that can only be obtained through emotion. Human beings are creatures that, by nature, are flawed. We can pretend to be as rational as we like, we will never fully understand ourselves and emotion is behind this. However, emotion doesn't simply exist to confuse us obviously, it's a social mechanism by which we form relationships that can help us survive as a species and as an individual. Without emotions, we have no reason to form connections with others and better ourselves as a species. Cold logic cannot create art, because there is no emotion with which to feel and enjoy it. I don't believe that emotion is specific to gender, age, or culture. However, I do believe these things impact how you view the emotions. For example, there is an old cultural idea that "real men don't cry". This presents sadness as a weakness. A basic human emotion. Children, obviously, have a less complete grasp of the range of emotions felt, and therefore trouble articulating what they want. Meanwhile teenagers often feel so much emotion, it becomes hard to distinguish the different ones at play. As we age, we are able to EXPLAIN the emotions better, and therefore ourselves. While we all can gain this knowledge of our own emotions and the effects of them at any time, it is true that we are aided by cultural ideas of what emotions are acceptable and age giving us more experience with which to borrow from.
ReplyDelete3. When you read a book, you'll often see authors struggle to describe emotion. They'll often use strange metaphors like "butterflies in your stomach" or "a lump in your throat". And while we all understand what these phrases imply because of the way our society has brought us up to understand it in the context of our language, these metaphors don't completely describe the feelings we experience. Language is limited by grammar rules and logic. It follows a pattern that makes us able to communicate things on a basic level. However, we can use a thousand words and still never be able to depict our emotions through words. I think the best example of this is love. I have often asked people what it feels like to be in romantic love, and I've found I get similar answers. They say they're happier around the person, nervous, yet comfortable as if they've known them forever, there's an idea that they wish to have this person with them in the future. Yet, when I ask them to clarify how this is different the platonic love you feel for friends, people fall flat. "It just is", they'll often say, as if this makes sense. They are unable to describe the small details of emotions that we can instinctively recognize inside us because language will never be able to put those words into an explainable pattern by which a person who has never experienced romantic love can understand. And if you think you CAN explain it to me through language, I'd love to see you try. This ongoing quest to understand romantic love vs platonic love is one I believe to be forever doomed to failure do to the lack of words available in our language. As such, I believe it is emotions that shape language, not language that shapes emotions.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion feelings can have a rational basis as many different feelings stem from a multitude of situations, surroundings, and opportunities. For example in the situation of the classroom some of my classmates irritate me on a level that can only be classified as emptional. This may be due to ones issue with chewing properly, or anothers innability to control their impulse to make inappropriate or untimely comments. These feelings all are logical explanations for how they make me feel in my opinion. The keywords in this are my feelings and my opinion to other these issues are trivial, but understandable. When i was younger i always said "i hate my brother" and i had absolutely no rational explanation for why he irritated me so much, but i forsure disliked him with a burning passion.
I feel that if feelings were justifiable then the world would improve in some areas and im some areas it would deteriorate. For example in the court room being able to justify ones emotions would prove immensely useful in solidifying ones innocence. On the other hand being able to justify emotions would cause the curiosity and the mystery of knowing ones true intentions to diminish. If we all knew what others were feeling with certainty than the feelings such as romance and love would not be as complex. This may be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the context in which the justification occurs. Without emotions we arent human. I see this in the aspect of whats regarded as a "functioning alcoholic" They may be able to go through their day and take care of all their responsibilities but their thoughts and actions are distorted by the alcohol they consume. If humans didnt have emotions we would be able to function just fine but without emotions we would have no reason to do so. No emotional intelligence is not an oxymoron emotions are natural intelligence is deifferent for each person. So wether that is an oxymoron or not is up for debate.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
I think that emotions are wothout a doubt hard-wired into the human body and particularly the brain. The brain is the most essential part of the body that is responsible for each individuals functioning and formulation of emotion. Emotions themselves are of course a result of the bio-chemicals present in the human body. What emotions we are supposed to feel in reaponse to certain situations is a different story. For example when engaging in sexual activity the human brain releases endorphins to the brain that stimulate brain activity and emotions of pleasure. On the other hand many emotional responses are a result of the culture/society we are surrounded by. For example when someone uses bloody in the United States we ask "oh whats bleeding?" In the U.K. Its practically the same as the work "fucking" So if someone called us a "bloody taco" not only would we be confused but our emotions of anger would not be as high as if someone called us a "fucking taco" Meanwhile in the U.K. theyd be confused and irritated. Also certain acts such as engaging in eye contact is perceived differently in different regions. In the United States eye contact invokes feelings of trust and seriousness. While in some areas it is considered an invasion of privacy and highly offensive. Depending on the environment everyones emotional responses are different but the emotions themselves are all natural.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDeleteThere are several instances when an emotion cannot be completely captured through language. People often use adjectives or experiences in order to describe the certain feeling. For example, love is an extremely hard emotion to explain to others who have not felt it. It is “life-changing” or “breaks your heart” but there cannot be one definition that everyone universally agrees with. The origins or experiences of this particular emotion can shape how a person thinks about it and how they would describe it. Anger is another emotion that is difficult to express in language. I often associate anger with sounds, whether it be a growl or shout. This is why people often have trouble explaining their anger and how it makes them feel when attempting to solve an issue. Different languages can sometimes characterize emotions in different ways, shaping how people expect the emotion to feel like, but this also does not mean that an emotion cannot shape how it is described in different languages as well. There is a phrase in French, Ton amour est aussi précieux que l'or, which means “Your love is as precious as gold”. Comparing the love to gold emphasizes the importance and pricelessness of the feeling received. We use similar metaphors, comparing the emotion to a familiar object in the world. Although we use different languages, there is a common understanding of how each emotion should be and how to describe it.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
Emotions are biological in the sense that the amygdala helps regulate the emotions we process. We observe others and see their emotions based on what we feel when we experience these emotions. If someone smiles or laughs, we associate this with happiness. Most human beings will be able to assess others emotions without a common basis of language with facial emotions or within context. However, this is not always the case; cultures can sometimes change how we display these emotions. There is a vast difference in how we express and display love in different countries. In European countries, acquaintances will greet and embrace each other with a kiss on the cheek as a platonic expression. We do not see this in the United States and may find it unique or strange to do so ourselves. Furthermore, PDA, or public display of affection, is quite common in the United States. In China, public displays of affection are looked down upon. Modesty is promoted while kissing in public is completely off limits; instead, it is thought of as a secretive action reserved for when the couple is in private. The furthest PDA a couple is allowed in China is holding hands while walking around in public. Love is more timid and shy in a culture such as China, while it can be passionate and energetic in the United States. This difference culturally can affect how people think about an emotion such as love.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is knowledge that can be obtained and understood solely through emotion. When humans try to gain knowledge on a certain topic, they do not just look at the cold hard facts of it, but they create an opinion on this topic at hand. Whether there opinion stems from a fact-based root, or from a personal feeling or experience of it, all of the knowledge in the world cannot just be obtained through information and facts. Either subconsciously or consciously, we are affected by what goes on around us and those feelings they we develop tell us more about ourselves and a society as a whole. In society, emotion affects how we see things. For example, art is self-expression of how the artist feels and without those emotions, the art may not even exist, which means that we would have a lesser understanding of the world around us without it. The answer to this topic is definitely dependent on certain factors because every person is different and their experience creates different depths of emotions. In society, women tend to be more connected to their emotions, so they are able to understand more about what surrounds them by tuning into how they feel about certain situations. When you are at different ages, the amount that information affects you is completely different. As a whole, different cultures look at emotions differently, meaning how much knowledge they gain from them.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
It is very possible, and natural, for humans to experience a certain type of emotion that cannot be expressed using language. Whenever someone goes through something intense, whether that is happiness, love, fear, or anything along those lines, they tend to describe it as being "indescribable." This response actually gives a lot of depth as to how intense they felt it. People also say that they are at a "loss for words." This is because language does not encapsulate everything we feel, but instead gives a name to the generalized emotions we feel. It will not be able to express every single emotion and feeling, because everyone feels it differently, so language is not able embody all of that. Body language is a type of language that can describe that emotion without using words. How someone uses their body and body movements can tell a lot about how they feel. For example, if they lean away from you or towards you, if your only response to a question is to blush, if there is a lack of eye contact. Each situation says something about how they feel without literally saying it. Love can be shaped by language because of the fact that its definition is constantly changing. Today, people say love for all different types of reasons and say they love someone, even if they do not. This is because the word has lost its depth that it once had and now its just another commonly used word. Nowadays love is used to describe just an overwhelming amount of happiness or likeness, but a while ago it had that depth and had an intense and powerful emotion behind it.Because language is constantly changing, the definition of emotions and how people describe them changes too. I believe that the only time that you truly experience an intense amount of an emotion is when it is indescribable because you are not affected and influenced by figuring out how to put those in words, which means using the words that have lost their original definition. Instead, you just feel it.
2. Yes, knowledge can be obtained thru emotion, but the problem is the lack of understanding. Knowledge does not mean understanding, and when we suddenly have feelings of fear, anger, and joy, it does not mean we know why exactly. It is hard to explain, but when you see an animal suffering over an injury, you pity and feel sorry for them once you see them. You know that the animal is not is a good state, and that it is hurt by simply using your deductive reasoning, and your gut. Emotions let us know when something is up, without have any understanding of what it is exactly. Knowledge is knowing your environment and the surrounding around you thru various ways, and emotion being one changes the perception of the world around you. Your emotions and feelings change your views on the world around you. Emotions are what fuels the pursuit in knowledge for many people. The emotion/ feeling of curiosity does this. Other emotions such as pain form a certain action or object will give the person a sense of alert form that action or object the next time they encounter that. In my opinion, the emotion of curiosity is the most important when it comes to acquiring knowledge in the world; it is what drives one to discover, and understand the workings and purpose of that person, place, or thing. Out of the four categories; gender, culture, age, and socioeconomic groups, culture is the most impact when it comes to obtaining knowledge thru emotion. If another culture/ ethnic group sees the act of cannibalism as a way of inquiring knowledge (Yes I know it is a weird example). Our emotions and feelings tell us that this is wrong and incorrect, but other cultural groups can perceive this differently. Emotions may as well be affected with the age, socioeconomic status, and gender, but not as much as culture does.
ReplyDelete3. Yes, it is seen throughout literature and its attempt to describe the feelings such as adrenaline, the term "Butterflies in my stomach", tries to do just that. Some people may also say that it describes someones feelings when they are in love, but I do not see love as a feeling, but more of a choice. Emotions and feelings are hard to describe because the best we as humans can do in a limited language system is only describe the surroundings of those feeling/emotions. We can not exactly pin point the feeling, but instead describe what it may feel like for some people, but not all. This is why describing feelings and emotions thru literature is extremely difficult. As time continues and language evolves (Hopefully), describing feelings and emotions may eventually improve, but I do not believe that language will ever fully be able to describe true emotions and feelings.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteEmotions and feelings are absolutely essential to being human. We rely on empathy and expressing our feelings of anger and love to form relationships. Without emotions and feelings, people become extremely dangerous. For example, sociopaths kill and hurt other living things because of a lack of remorse, empathy, and ability to feel emotion. Without emotion, we would not be social creatures. ‘Emotional intelligence’ is not an oxymoron. The ability to perceive and read other people’s emotions is key to forming relationships. We use emotional intelligence to inform our decision making. Emotional intelligence helps us govern how we respond to situations and people. Without emotional intelligence, we would read situations and people wrongly, resulting in potentially dangerous situations. Feelings definitely have a rational basis. Unconscious to us, our brains use contextual clues about other people’s body language and actions to provoke certain emotions in us. Our intuition is definitely rational. In my opinion, emotions are justified. The problem with emotions is not the emotion themselves, that’s simply information, but rather the problem is the action that arises from the emotion: that is what we need to be justifiable and logical.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
Yes, there are definitely kinds of knowledge that can only be obtained through emotion. In some cases, you must experience emotion to understand a certain phenomenon. For example, someone could research and learn as much as they wanted about love or hatred, but they would never truly understand it until they had experienced that emotion for themselves. Our emotional experiences help us understand ourselves and the world better. For this reason, factors such as age, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status play a role in our knowledge base. Since, certain types of knowledge stem directly from our emotional experiences, we all will have varying degrees of knowledge and understanding based off of our personal emotions and feelings. Additionally, emotion gives rise to intuition. In certain situations, we feel anger, fear, or unease without knowing why. Our emotions warn us about unsafe situations. When there are no physical ways of knowing a situation is unsafe, we still feel uneasy. This is a direct result of our emotions. Emotions trigger our brain to have a physical response to danger. For these reasons, it is apparent that certain kinds of knowledge are experiential and a direct result of our emotional understanding.
It is very possible to to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language. This sort of feeling is rare and only occurs during very important or memorable times in our lives. We do not know how to describe the feeling as it is so unreal to us that we have a loss of words. We do not know how to express our selves as we only know the feeling, good or bad in our body. A recent example of these types of feelings would be in June when The Cavaliers won the NBA championship. I bet the team could not believe what had just occurred and the feeling of bringing a championship back to Cleveland for Lebron must have been a dream come true. Another very recent example about feelings that someone could not describe would be how earlier this morning, Miami Marlins 24 year old pitcher died in a boating accident. The accident was so unfortunate and his death affected many people around the country and in Cuba. His wife just found out that she was pregnant just last week. The amount of pain that the family is going through and the people that knew Jose best are also at a loss for words.
ReplyDeleteI do not know if there is any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion. Knowledge seems like such a different topic than emotion. I know that there are different forms of knowledge, but for example how "book" smart someone may be has no correlation to emotion. Emotion is an instinct and can be taken for granted. The ability to hold this instinct through good and bad times is a key factor in the way we live and mature as a human being. Gender, age, and culture all come into play in this topic as well. It definitely depends where you grew up and how you perceive your surroundings that can have a huge role in your emotion and how you see things differently than others.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteMaybe not considering knowledge is gained by multiple factors working at once. Yes, cavemen gained the knowledge that lions are dangerous because they felt fear, but they felt fear because they physically saw the lion’s sharp teeth and possibly one of their friends getting eaten by a lion. I’m not really sure about this question because of the word “solely”. I don’t think it’s possible to somehow gain knowledge directly from emotion when emotion is created based on something you’ve experienced. Though emotion can aid the gaining of knowledge, I don’t think it works alone.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
Yes. Humans attempt to explain and communicate things through language even though we may not actually get our points across. Emotion is just another case because attempting to explain what one feels can easily get lost in translation. Other languages have words for different feelings such as the Japanese words in the textbook, but when language fails to provide a term for our exact emotions, we turn to similes and metaphors to get as close to the meaning as possible. I think don’t think emotions can be shaped by language, but rather language just cannot possibly explain exactly how one feels. It’s like saying that because there isn’t a way to express how you feel, you’re changing how you’re feeling to fit the limited descriptions we have. If someone asks how you feel and no amount of metaphors or adjectives in the world can describe it, it doesn’t mean you aren’t feeling something, you’re just feeling something that hasn’t been perfectly defined by some panel of old men that puts words in the dictionary yet.
3. It is possible to experience something that cannot be justifiably expressed by language. This exists as the innermost happenings within ourselves that create a realm of truly living. From personal testament of having experienced what I hold as extreme moments of both grief and elation, and all that may fall in between, I have found myself falling short of being able to articulate what it truly is I have experienced. It seems to have a fleeting nature even; as time progresses, the ability to recall that feeling from a specific moment, or collection thereof, begins to fade. A spark of what was felt, or possibly a remembrance of the gist of how one felt surrounding this occurrence of this feeling may be accessible. However, I have found that emotions truly signify life in the presence. Happiness, accomplishment, love, hurt, despair, shame-- these feelings may be articulated in the sense of reference to by a word, yet the reality of the individual experience with each and all of these emotions is a personal happening that although is relatable, is completely individually personal and therefore cannot be fully empathized by another through words.
ReplyDelete1. I do believe feelings can have a rational basis. However, this rational basis for the most part appears to exist on a personal level. For each emotion, there is a reference situation specific to that emotion a person experiences. We rationalize our feelings to ourselves based off of the past-- a coalition of past experiences, biases, relationships, and emotions. One can rationalize an emotion very easily in their head. One can attempt to externally rationalize it to those around them, but the opinions of others towards the situation will be bias due to their own past experiences and emotions. For one it may be a justifiable emotion, but for another, it may be completely invalid. Emotions never will be able to be universally justified because of everyone’s individual opinions. Emotions, however fleetingly indescribable and justifiable, are what make us human and life alive. ‘Emotional intelligence’ seems to be an oxymoron because of the conflicting concepts of irrational, unjustifiable, and unquantifiable emotions, and the reality of what we base our society-- intelligence.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDelete-It is definitely possible to experience certain, indescribable emotions that simply cannot be accurately expressed by language. From my personal experience with these complex feelings, I realized that there are different feelings, ideas, and mindsets that are unable to be properly depicted by language. Humans constantly try to translate their exact thoughts to one another, however it is quite common to see miscommunications occur. The same thing applies to emotion, when one individual tries to describe their unique feelings of despair, contentment, fear, etc, it is rare to see the listening individual completely understand and sympathize. Due to the different experiences and lifestyles that we all have, we are never truly able to relate and understand one another.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
-It is evident to me that there is knowledge that is obtained solely through emotions. In fact, sometimes the best way to learn is through emotions of grief and suffering, as well as rewarding feelings of happiness and optimism. We learn what we like and dislike through our emotions about everything. It is through our emotions that we are able to develop opinions about things. When we learn what we love and hate, we are better able to create our own individual path to personal success and achievement. For example, when we go to school we learn fairly early on what our strong subjects are. If you know you are phenomenal at math but you hate english, you will likely primarily focus on the subject you enjoy more. Emotions essentially allow our brain to learn how we feel about everything that life has to offer, and they are completely unique to each individual.
4. Human emotion is extremely similar, all over the world. Emotions are the reactions of our morals, and most people have similar sets of moral worldviews. And most morals come from primitive impulses. For example, in most places, murder is considered wrong. The death of a human being "hurts the tribe" so to speak. Only if they are deemed as worth more harm than good, do most people feel it is justified. The only thing that teaches morals beside primitive impulses is religion. Depending on the particular religion and how many of its followers are in the particular area, one starts to see the difference between our morals, and thus, our emotions. It can modify how compassionate, righteous, loving, and kind we can be to others.
ReplyDelete3. Yes, it is possible to feel emotions that are indescribable by language. Emotions are complex thoughts that we have when regarding a particular situation. Our emotions come largely from how we are taught as children to behave. It is simply impossible for language to encompass every single individual thought and attitude. Concepts such as love have certainly been shaped by language. A person might be feeling an emotion that has similar characteristics of love, and just put that feeling in that box of "Love goes like this", even if what they feel isn't entirely it. So yes, language does provide humans with forms of emotion they may not know how to feel, if left to themselves.
4. Human emotion is extremely similar, all over the world. Emotions are the reactions of our morals, and most people have similar sets of moral worldviews. And most morals come from primitive impulses. For example, in most places, murder is considered wrong. The death of a human being "hurts the tribe" so to speak. Only if they are deemed as worth more harm than good, do most people feel it is justified. The only thing that teaches morals beside primitive impulses is religion. Depending on the particular religion and how many of its followers are in the particular area, one starts to see the difference between our morals, and thus, our emotions. It can modify how compassionate, righteous, loving, and kind we can be to others.
ReplyDelete3. Yes, it is possible to feel emotions that are indescribable by language. Emotions are complex thoughts that we have when regarding a particular situation. Our emotions come largely from how we are taught as children to behave. It is simply impossible for language to encompass every single individual thought and attitude. Concepts such as love have certainly been shaped by language. A person might be feeling an emotion that has similar characteristics of love, and just put that feeling in that box of "Love goes like this", even if what they feel isn't entirely it. So yes, language does provide humans with forms of emotion they may not know how to feel, if left to themselves.
3. Language is not sufficient to describe emotion. Emotions are more primal than language allows. Pixar's Inside Out about the complexity of emotions was a masterpiece exactly because it attempted to answer the question of what goes on in another person's brain, and what ruled the brain? The strongest emotions--not language. I have been through great sadness, and the people who best understand my experience are not my closest friends who I talked to about the situation, they are people who have experienced the same thing. Language was not enough; there were no words I could use to express my feelings so that someone else could understand me. That may also be why the best advice for "being there" for someone else is to just literally be there without saying anything. Once you introduce language the experience is cheapened.
ReplyDelete4. Culture definitely influences emotion. I just heard about a culture that does not experience gratitude. They don't even have a word for "thank you." The closest they have is a word that translates "I acknowledge that this transaction occurred." The missionary living with them and studying them tried to explain our western concept of gratitude and they couldn't get it. Meanwhile, we are told from a young age to be thankful for what we have, so that becomes a fall back response to hard times. We are taught our values and morals, and it is hard to say how many are universal to humans and how many are because of the way culture spread through history as empires conquered each other and spread their belief systems. Different cultures deal with death differently with not everyone thinking it is the worst thing that could happen.
3. Yes it is entirely possible to have a sensation or feeling/emotion that cannot be described by language. Each individual crafts their own form of emotion, and each emotion may feel slightly different than another's. Some emotions can be so strongly felt that only those who have experienced it can know how it feels. One may try to describe a feeling of intense fear or love to someone who has been sheltered all their life or has never loved, and would fall on deaf ears. Yet some emotions can come hand in hand with language, as Shakespeare managed to capture love in his own words, and society gradually came to accept many of his ideas and views on love. Poetry is an entire language of emotion, as it may come in different dialects and forms, however shapes many emotions some may never have felt.
ReplyDelete4. Emotion is somewhat biological in humans. Reptiles contain one of the most basic of ‘complex’ brains in the animal kingdom, as they typically can only feel ‘emotions’ such as pleasure, fear, and aggression. Humans have adapted a more complex brain that is able to process emotions and develop more than the basic 3. At an early age, however, babies’ “emotions” are neurological responses to pleasure, frustration, hunger, etc. Only after studying and learning from their environment do babies develop a “social smile” rather than a smile from pleasure. This would explain the social differences in emotions, as in Japan, many families do not express their love through saying “I love you”, but rather through respect and their actions, whereas in the US not saying “I love you” is seen as distant and a sign of a bad family. Family culture obviously has a large role in shaping emotions early on, however societal views can manipulate and differ in societies. Nazi Germany provides an excellent example, as many were swayed by emotions to follow the Aryan movement. By putting a large amount of grief, suffering and blaming it on one group most likely would incite anger in a society that would last a generation. Emotions brought on by the 9/11 attacks led the United States on a biased and more often than not a racist view on many Muslims. Society may not create new emotions, but it certainly can control emotions.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteYes, there are select types of knowledge that can only be gained through emotion. These kinds of knowledge are extremely dependent on factors such as personal identity, as well as a person's place on a global scale. A person's emotional state will have much to do with how they view themselves relative to others. A woman who is living in a patrilineal society could possibly feel frustrated with the unjust gender roles in a her society, or perhaps a man feels economically inferior to his counterparts who all earn a better income than him. These feelings we have give us information about how we view not only ourselves, but our society. Age also has an influence on how we should feel about certain events as well as well as our displays of emotion. Children get a “free pass” when displaying their emotions, yet at some point in our lives we are expected to learn through social cues how to act in various situations, by learning through our emotions.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
The idea of nature vs nurture is in constant debate, however to an extent, one's personal environment and the culture one grows up in has much more of an effect on you than your biological wiring. If we were all hard wired to respond to situations the same way and reflect the same emotions we would be mechanical. People all experience different emotions during the same events and thus from different opinions. For example someone could enjoy themselves on a rollercoaster but another person could feel endangered even though they both went through the same experience. This is even more so in regards to a person's culture and how they are expected to display their different emotions.
1) Emotions are just another form of thought, and there is a definite process in their production and expression. I believe that emotions are infinitely more powerful when given the thought and consideration to be justified. In justifying our emotions, we take the time to think them through and get over the initial rush. Emotions are dangerous in that they have many layers, there are two sides to each emotions: love and infatuation, anger and fear, and so on. Justifying our emotions allows us to step back and think through the first part and into the second. There is also a risk in over analyzing an emotion and allowing an excuse to keep you from being accountable. I think the validity in being "emotionally intelligent" is in knowing the difference in escaping accountability and thinking through an emotion before acting on it.
ReplyDelete4) I believe we, as humans, are predisposed to certain emotions. We are born with the ability to feel fear as a defense mechanism and often needed it in the wild. Additionally, we are are able to feel love and pleasure. Love is nature's way of keeping people together and supporting each other, without which we'd be unable to survive. We are also able to feel pleasure as a way for our body to cue us when we do something good for us like when we eat something with needed nutrients. I think that beyond nature's emotions our feelings are molded by society and the expectations our culture gives us. Emotions such as shame and embarrassment are unnatural and bread through the judgements of others. I believe that these emotions are what shape the discrepancies between the ways different cultures express their feelings.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
ReplyDeleteEvery human being feels emotion. Unless the human has some rare case that does not allow them to feel emotion, then they feel some sort of emotion. However, not every human feels the same emotions. In fact, everyone probably feels different emotions then everyone else. Humans in different ares of the world will have different emotional responses based on what triggers they have learned in that part of the world. For example, during 9/11, most american probably had a fear or sadness emotion trigger. People in other countries, however, could feel happy about this. It all depends on what triggers certain people to feel certain emotions.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
I believe feelings can't have a rational basis. Please explain to me what love is? Well, if any of you reading this could actually explain it to me, then I would have multiple different answers for one question and none of them would be right or wrong. One cannot rationalize emotion, and if they could, well there goes something to ponder about and the reason to feel emotion. Humans cannot live with out emotion. With out it, it would make us simply rational things that only had facts. We would all be the exact same (thoughts wise) and no new things would ever come out of the world. Well, new things would come out, but no new enjoyable things would ever happen. Emotional intelligence is an oxymoron. You can't know what emotion you are going to feel. You can understand why you are feeling it, but that doesn't stop you from feeling it.
3.
ReplyDeleteYes it is possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude, or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language. Everyday I hear people explain an experience with the term indescribable. Each person creates new emotions that cannot be described unless one feels it. Concepts such as love and grief have been greatly shaped by language. Having definitions of these terms directly categorize people's emotions. Language has shaped love in numerous ways. There is infinity definitions for love and what it means to be in love. Language has created multiple expectations for all different emotions.
2. Knowledge can be greatly obtained through emotion. This knowledge is solely dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and or socioeconomic group. Each factor feels all the same emotions, but interprets them in different ways due to their traits. An example of learning through emotion is when society tries to gain knowledge on something, they do not only research and topic, but the also want to get a feel for what they are learning. Therefore one puts themselves in the position to feel that emotion. The answer to this topic directly relates to the to the current state of the perpetrator. Everyone is different, all cultures are different therefore emotion is felt in all different ways which could later pertain to the knowledge one receives from emotion.
3. Yes I think there are definitely emotions that cannot be expressed through language. First thing that comes to mind is emotion. I think about when you write in a journal about a girl you really love, and you stutter and freeze because no words can explain how you FEEL about her. Many authors have tried to use advanced vocabulary but still struggle to get off what they mean.
ReplyDelete3. No; Consider the idea of language, specifically that any language has an ever-changing lexicon. The very nature of language is to change words, to expand definitions and of course to develop new words. With that in mind, there is no reason that a conscious emotion could not be explained through either pre-existing words, or new words to encompass the definition of the emotion. Take these examples: Tartle, a Scottish slang word for anxiety when introducing someone whose name you don’t remember; Iktsuarpok, an Inuit word for the anxious feeling of waiting for someone to come by your house, so you keep checking outside if they have arrived; lastly Greng-jai, a Thai word for not wanting someone to do something for you that would be problematic for them. All of these are emotions that can clearly be explained, either succinctly by a single word, or by an extended explanation.
ReplyDelete4. Very extensively, the same hormones/neurochemicals are present in every human being. Human beings have the same chemical reactions as related to happiness, sadness, laughter, etc. What is unique, is the cultural “software” that we imprint onto the neural “hardware.” Using these chemicals we program very specific reactions, to certain stimuli. Take for example the belief in the United States that to place one’s elbows on a table is highly rude, or the British belief that to make the “peace sign” with the middle and index finger is extremely vulgar. These actions trigger anger, rage, or a sensation of disrespect. As an American, I do not have the same reaction to this hand signal, moreover as a young American, I have no reaction to placing one’s elbows on the table as well. Not only is this an example of cultural relevance, but temporal-cultural relevance. Consider also that there are emotional defects in human being, for instance depression or bipolar disorder. Two similar emotional disorders, that heavily impact the emotions of suffers, with no respect to cultural identity. The presence of such conditions across the world, with similar emotional responses demonstrates, the “hardware” overruling the “software.”
2) There are many different kinds of knowledge that you can get solely from emotions when you are a teenager your emotions can tell you what you like and what you dislike. When you get older your emotions can change into different things, when you were younger and felt sick and how big of a deal it felt to the younger person. When you get older the little sickness that the teenager had is a small deal to the older person not much feeling put into the sickness. The different emotions can change whether the person is male or female. Males sometimes have different point of views from women whether it is the way they grew up or how they thought about the situation through these two different types of emotion you can learn about different sides of an argument.
ReplyDelete3) It is possible for a person to experience an emotion, feeling, attitude that can not be expressed in a language. An emotion like love can only be experienced many people have tried to describe love into a language that people can understand but are not quite able to understand what the author means until they experience it themselves. In Anthropology we wrote a story then with a partner had to act out our stories without saying anything. My partners story was about a girl being stressed out from school work. When my partner acted out the story they showed crying which I interpreted as sad. Stressed out is not an easy emotion to get across because there is a bunch of different emotions that can go along with stress. The emotion stressed can feel different to every person. this emotion would be hard to place into a language.
3)Yes there has been many times in my life that i have felt a emotion i was unable to name. But i believe that some feelings are shaped by language but its more like social language an how that can shape people feelings or make them realize ones they have felt but been unable to name. Pn the other side there is not always a word for a feeling like many others have said there are so many feeling in our laguage. In many culture they have different words for love, love of a friend, Family, thing, or someone your married too. It would take a understanding of so many laguages to be able to understand an label all feelings.
ReplyDelete3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is possible to experience emotions that cannot be expressed by language. Often times, emotions can be expressed partially with language. But, even so, it’s not possible to express every single physical and mental aspect that the specific emotion makes one feel, as emotions are often so complex (physical feelings, mental feelings, countering thoughts) and have many sides to them. I also do think that emotion can be shaped by language. As people begin expressing their own emotions through language, often times they gain a new perspective or a different part of the story they hadn’t thought of before. This can spark an emotion or shape it.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
In a countless number of ways emotion is hard wired in humans to help us survive. For instance, fear is an essential emotion to the human being. Without fear, humans would not be as aware of danger around them. Even if they were told/knew that something was dangerous without any emotion attached, they would not be as compelled to run or fight whatever they may be up against as they would if emotion were present. I believe that many outwardly shown emotions are largely shaped by society. For instance, love and affection. These emotions are very intimate, and in some societies, are only displayed in private. In other societies, however, it is completely acceptable to publicly display your affection for another (to some extent, of course).
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very common to experience an emotion that cannot be expressed through language. I think previous experiences can have an influence on how one uses language in the future. When someone experiences something incredible or life changing they classify it as indescribable. This is because they have never felt that way before and they do not know what language to use to describe it. One example is when Dee Gordon hit his first home run of the season during his first at bat after Jose Fernandez died. The moment was so remarkably special and unbelievable that Gordon did not have the words to describe his emotions. In this way, some emotions cannot be expressed in language. I think some emotions can be shaped by language because when we are familiar with language we tend to fall back on it when our emotion is unfamiliar.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
Emotions are very much universal to all human beings and are practically a necessity for humans to survive. I think the basis of emotions is universal but specific emotions can be affected by the culture and society that surrounds one person. Without emotions it would be difficult to have any relationships or determination. I do however believe that the use of emotions varies in different cultures. The use of body language, phrases or words, might not be understood by those new to the culture.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteFeelings definitely can have a rational basis, they are often influenced by events that happen that affect oneself or just the environment and surroundings. It would be better if emotions could be justified because then one would be able to explain his or her feelings and why it is reasonable to feel a certain way. Emotions are essential to convey messages and help communicate better. In a way yes because intelligence cannot always explain an emotion because some emotions are just not able to be put into words.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
Yes, it can show the internal thinkings of a person and how they feel at that moment. All these factors above can be a possible factor but culture seems to be one of the biggest factors. Culture usually shows how one should appear and express oneself so there are cultures that may be less expressive than others. This may dictate the ways in which one shows emotion or how filtered or held back these emotions have to be.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways by which knowledge can be conveyed and obtained, such as through the use of emotion. The way a person feels and their body language can indicate something that written or oral language cannot fully express. In some cases, emotion may offer a lot more insight and value because emotion is more personal and genuine. The method of obtaining knowledge solely through knowledge is dependent on many factors such as gender, age, and culture. In society, displaying your emotions is known as a feminine thing, and it is less common for males to show their emotions. Therefore, it may easier for females to express and understand knowledge through emotion. As a child, you are less aware of your surroundings and cannot fully perceive how one is feeling based on emotion. However, as one matures and and has experiences, it becomes easier to know how one is feeling and gain knowledge. In some cultures, it is inappropriate to publicly display emotions, which limits the knowledge and skills one could possibly obtain, considering that the people within that culture have rarely experienced that.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
Although the English language contains a virtually limitless mass of words that help convey our thoughts, it is possible that the written or oral language are not sufficient enough to completely express an emotion. Sometimes our feelings are so specific and personal that we cannot fully put them into words. In some cases, body language may not be useful as well. Body language may express the surface layers of our emotions, but it cannot delve deeper to express our inner sensibilities. Universal emotions that are experienced by each individual such as love and grief can be shaped by language to an extent. The written and oral language can be utilized to express our love and grief, but it cannot exactly pinpoint the level and aspects of emotion. In addition, language can simply be used to say how we feel, but it is difficult for it to go beyond that. For example, we use language to tell someone “I love you” and “I am depressed,” but we are limited to express how much we love that person and how depressed we are. Language can be used to express our emotions to the extent that it cannot describe our innermost feelings that are distinctively personal and different for each individual.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteYes, there are many knowledge that can be obtained only through emotions. People make connections through emotions and have deeper understandings for each other. From childhood through adulthood we express things we like and dislike through emotion. Emotion is dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture..etc.In some cultures it's considered inappropriate to show emotions publicly, therefore the people in that particular culture tend not to have a deep connections with each other due to the lack of showing emotions. A younger person has a different perception of emotion compared to an older person, since an older person has more experience throughout life, they tend to show more emotion that a younger person. Gender is also a factor, for instance a boy crying is considered odd by society compared to a girl crying, therefore boys tend to show less emotions than girls.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
Yes, sometimes emotions can’t be de expressed in language. Emotions isn't something that can just be understood by language, but it can be understood through experience. Emotions and feelings are experienced within oneself, therefore it's difficult to put them to words. When you try to describe the emotion you are feeling to someone else, they usually don't understand it since they have never experienced that particular emotions. Music and art are example of a non language way to express emotions. Every person has a different way of feeling emotions, so even when we try to express them through language, we would have different meaning for different emotions.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteYes, there are many knowledge that can be obtained only through emotions. People make connections through emotions and have deeper understandings for each other. From childhood through adulthood we express things we like and dislike through emotion. Emotion is dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture..etc.In some cultures it's considered inappropriate to show emotions publicly, therefore the people in that particular culture tend not to have a deep connections with each other due to the lack of showing emotions. A younger person has a different perception of emotion compared to an older person, since an older person has more experience throughout life, they tend to show more emotion that a younger person. Gender is also a factor, for instance a boy crying is considered odd by society compared to a girl crying, therefore boys tend to show less emotions than girls.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
Yes, sometimes emotions can’t be de expressed in language. Emotions isn't something that can just be understood by language, but it can be understood through experience. Emotions and feelings are experienced within oneself, therefore it's difficult to put them to words. When you try to describe the emotion you are feeling to someone else, they usually don't understand it since they have never experienced that particular emotions. Music and art are example of a non language way to express emotions. Every person has a different way of feeling emotions, so even when we try to express them through language, we would have different meaning for different emotions.
1.Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
ReplyDeleteEmotions and feelings are something we as humans feel everyday whether it is happiness and joy or sadness and anger. Feelings have a rational basis, but it also depends on the situation and sometimes they are only rational to a certain extent. It is very rational to be sad about a family member passing away, parents getting divorced, or someone becoming terminally ill. However, many people become sad for less rational reasons such as getting a bad grade on a test, not being able to go out on a Saturday night, and smaller situations like that. The rationality of emotions completely depends on who is observing them making it hard to state a defined answer. One person may believe it is justified to cry over a bad grade because their grades are important to them as well, whereas another person may see it as just one test not defining you and it does not matter. I feel that it would be better if emotions could be justified because then there would be a universal understanding of what you are feeling and why. More people would empathize with you rather than feeling you are being overly emotional or overreacting. Feelings are essential because they allow us to express ourselves and communicate with others what we feel.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
I think it is very possible to experience an emotion or feeling that one simply cannot put into words or explain. With that being said, it is hard to explain the emotion of feeling something so deep that words cannot descriptively justify it. Sometimes the only way is to describe a situation, trying to create that feeling in the other person’s mind. I think emotion can most definitely be shaped by language. The way we describe our feelings is not always through physic al characteristics, but sometimes through words. We know that some words are often times more used when a person is feeling very happy and likewise for any other emotions such as sadness, anger, nervousness, etc. Language helps us to communicate our feelings and that is why some people choose to write them down.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDeleteAs humans we have difficultly explaining ourselves,especially when it comes to emotions. We know what we are feeling but when we try to express our emotions we can not find the right words to do so. Most of the times we will just use the simplest of terms to describe our emotions, such as happy, sad,mad. We don't go into much detail trying to explain emotions either because our brain can’t fully comprehend the emotion, or because some of us do not have an extensive enough vocabulary. There are so many languages in the world all consisting of thousands of words that can be used to describe feelings. I personally don't know how to explain what i am feeling but that doesn't mean that its impossible to explain my emotions. We can explain our emotions through language it isn't impossible to do so, but it is a difficult task.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
I believe that different people’s emotions can be very dependent of factors such as gender, age, culture and class. We can all say that we are sad but my sadness may differ from the sadness of a poor child in a third world country. We are both sad but we will never be able to know the extent of each others’ sadness. In the same way that a white women will never know the oppression that a colored women feels. All women go through oppression and all can experience the various emotion that stem from oppression but there are different scales to different people’s emotions.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly possible to experience an emotion that cannot be expressed in language. Language is limited in the fact that it is too broad when it comes to expressing emotion. Emotions have a tendency to mix and overlap. For example, a parent who is sending a child off to college will feel a sadness caused by the loss of their beloved child's presence, but they might also feel a mixture of happiness that their child is gaining independence, as well as pride in their achievements. Language alone is not sufficient to convey this combination of emotions, their relationships to one another, their relative proportions, and how they each affect the individual. One might be able to say they feel certain emotions, but that experience is individual, and others cannot understand the specificity of that emotional experience simply through language. Emotions like love or grief do not have strong roots in language as they are mostly universal human experiences as people create relationships with one another and watch them fall apart. However, language can shape how one feels about love and grief. For example, seeing these experiences simplified in cards conveying condolences or Valentine's wishes, one is detached from these experiences, as they simply read the written language that is not necessarily connected to personal emotions. Another way language shapes emotion is through the sharing of personal emotional states with other people. For example, when undergoing pain from extreme sadness or grief, the pain an be at least partially relieved by sharing the experience and emotions with another person through the medium of language.
4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
There are some primal emotions that biological and universal to all human beings, but more complex emotions and expressions have influence from culture. Emotions such as fear and compassion are biological and encoded in human DNA. This is because they are necessary, whether in response to immediate danger and for personal safety like fear, or for forming personal bonds and relationships like compassion. These emotions are instinctual and biological because they are necessary for survival. Other, more complex emotions may have roots in biological emotions, but they are influenced by culture and often contain combinations of emotions. Culture provides structure and expectations to help people understand and interpret emotion. For example, it is traditionally inappropriate for men in Western culture to cry as a form of showing sadness. Culture also influences the sensation of more complex emotions like love or jealousy. This is because these more complex emotions require more knowledge of the self and relationships to others than could be biologically encoded. Therefore, they have more influence from culture. For example, in a socioeconomically stratified culture, people from the lower levels of society are more likely to experience jealousy than a person from an egalitarian culture.
3. It is very possible for you to experience an emotion and that it can not be expressed in language, that maybe it can just be felt. Love and heartbreak and depression are all emotions that may have adjectives that describe them but there is no adjective good enought that can make you feel what it feels like. There is no word that can fully express the feeling of depression. And they way. It makes you feel. There is no word too specific that can make you feel that anxiety and that terrible pressure in your chest as if someone is sitting on it. There is no word that can fully express what love feels like. There might be verbs and adjectives as well that you may think you know what is feels like but not to a full extent. You Physically have to go through it and emotionally.
ReplyDelete4. Emotion is very hard-wired by the way your were raised. There are certain people who are raised to be not as emotional as others or do not express thier feelings to a full extent. That can be proved by making someone watch a movie where a dig dies. If they cry they are a bt more sensitive and have more emotion toward things and if they dont cry maybe they don't think a dog is worth crying for. Emotions really have to do with the origin of the emotions themselves. There is no book or template that tells you when to feel something or what to feel when, all these emotions are brought out by certain sceneries and if the senerios are enought o make you emotional, that can be either very happy or extremely sad.
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteEmotions themselves teach us things that some teachers never could. Our emotions teach us more about ourselves and how we react to certain situations. Personal knowledge can be obtained through experiences and feelings associated with those experiences. This can be dependent on age because adults have more dealt with more experiences and circumstances. An adult might not be as emotionally responsive in a situation because they have gone through it before and know the outcome whereas a child won't know the outcome. Emotional response also corresponds with many gender stereotypes. Women are stereotyped to be more emotional than guys which pertains to shared knowledge throughout cultures. Different cultures also deal with emotions in various ways based on their country's history. Some countries do not allow expressions of emotion because it is seen as rude or disrespectful. This limits the knowledge of the people of those countries because they are not able to experience those emotions and broaden their spectrum of knowledge in various situations.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
I believe it is possible to experience an emotion that does not have a particular word attached to it. Many emotions that we feel are a combination of many feelings together. There aren't enough words in the English language to explain or describe these complex feelings and emotions. Other languages however do happen to have some words that describe combined feelings that we do not have. Emotions in themselves are complex and specific to the person experiencing them. Each emotion or feeling can be different based on the experiences that person has gone through. One person might be able to recognize a complex emotion because they have felt it before and can realize the similarities in the feelings.
ReplyDelete1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
Emotions do, to a certain extent, have a rational basis. All emotions are caused by chemicals in our brains reacting in certain ways. On a conscious level, emotions seem less rational. I can explain exactly why I feel sad to someone, but my sadness did not start with a detailed rationale. Emotions are often characterized as the opposite of thought, and I think this is mostly true. Emotions do come from instinct. Many people can describe situations when their gut ‘told them’ something, even if they no reason to feel what they felt. Other emotions include more justification (frustration, for example, often has a specific reason) but emotions can adhere to or contradict justification. If all emotions could be justified on a conscious level (not with chemicals and senses we are not consciously aware of), I think it would be worse. The irrationality of emotion is in part what makes people human. Some emotions should not require constant justification. At any given time, there are many reasons to feel both sadness and happiness in with our lives, and weighing our situations to feel one or the other is neither healthy nor feasible.
Emotions and feelings are an essential part of interacting with other people. They help us to create empathy, and form groups. Because of this, emotional intelligence is not an oxymoron. It is possible to apply rationality to irrational emotions in order to try and manage them.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
It is possible that there are some feelings that cannot be expressed by language. I can understand when the loved one of a friend of mine’s dies, but I will never be able to fully understand what that person meant to my friend or exactly the pain my friend is in. I can use my memories of loss to try and understand, but that will never give me the full emotion they experience. That emotion has to do with the memories my friend has of that person; even the memories they can’t fully articulate but still helped them to form an impression of their loved one. There is an explanatory gap. Their emotion is being shaped by their experiences, and they can never fully translate this to me. Emotions cannot originate in or be shaped by language. Emotions are based in ideas and events that can be conveyed by language. Emotions are universal but language is not. People who speak different languages can still experience the same emotions. A work in translation does sometimes not contain words that do not quite convey the correct feeling (because in some languages there are words for more specific feelings); but that does not alter the existence of that feeling in a culture that doesn’t have a word for it. The words used to describe emotion may be different, but that will not change what is being described.
ReplyDelete1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
Emotions do, to a certain extent, have a rational basis. All emotions are caused by chemicals in our brains reacting in certain ways. On a conscious level, emotions seem less rational. I can explain exactly why I feel sad to someone, but my sadness did not start with a detailed rationale. Emotions are often characterized as the opposite of thought, and I think this is mostly true. Emotions do come from instinct. Many people can describe situations when their gut ‘told them’ something, even if they no reason to feel what they felt. Other emotions include more justification (frustration, for example, often has a specific reason) but emotions can adhere to or contradict justification. If all emotions could be justified on a conscious level (not with chemicals and senses we are not consciously aware of), I think it would be worse. The irrationality of emotion is in part what makes people human. Some emotions should not require constant justification. At any given time, there are many reasons to feel both sadness and happiness in with our lives, and weighing our situations to feel one or the other is neither healthy nor feasible.
Emotions and feelings are an essential part of interacting with other people. They help us to create empathy, and form groups. Because of this, emotional intelligence is not an oxymoron. It is possible to apply rationality to irrational emotions in order to try and manage them.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
It is possible that there are some feelings that cannot be expressed by language. I can understand when the loved one of a friend of mine’s dies, but I will never be able to fully understand what that person meant to my friend or exactly the pain my friend is in. I can use my memories of loss to try and understand, but that will never give me the full emotion they experience. That emotion has to do with the memories my friend has of that person; even the memories they can’t fully articulate but still helped them to form an impression of their loved one. There is an explanatory gap. Their emotion is being shaped by their experiences, and they can never fully translate this to me. Emotions cannot originate in or be shaped by language. Emotions are based in ideas and events that can be conveyed by language. Emotions are universal but language is not. People who speak different languages can still experience the same emotions. A work in translation does sometimes not contain words that do not quite convey the correct feeling (because in some languages there are words for more specific feelings); but that does not alter the existence of that feeling in a culture that doesn’t have a word for it. The words used to describe emotion may be different, but that will not change what is being described.
To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
ReplyDeleteAs a young person, I do not know everything there is to know about emotion. I have still only touched the surface of all of the feelings there are to feel. I believe that there is not one answer to this question. The simple emotions that we as humans feel such as fear and happiness and the likes are universal among all humans because I believe that these emotions are encoded in our DNA. However, as the emotions become more complex, humans often base their personal emotions off of societal norms and the status quo. I believe that it is easy to convince ourselves that we are right or wrong and should or shouldn't be embarrassed by doing a certain thing because the definition of that right or wrong is determined by society and therefore culture. However, I believe that an emotion one human feels can also be felt in other humans no matter what the culture. However, within certain cultures, I think certain emotions are much more relevant. It is not the emotions themselves that vary from society to society, but instead the way that different cultures judge different things that determines the emotions felt about a certain happening.
Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
I believe that feelings can have a rational basis. The only thing that we hold true to ourselves as humans is that we are living in our own realities. The realities of others do not matter because we are not sure if they even exist. However, that is rationally speaking. Anyhow, emotions are rational in anyone's personal reality, however to other people, these emotions may not be rational. I think that emotions can be justified. Although I just said that the only thing we can personally hold true is that we are living in our own realities, I also think that one of the most important things and one of the main things that makes us human is that we can feel empathy for others. Therefore, emotions can be justified among humans since we can relate to each others emotions most of the time. Emotions and feelings are very essential. Although it is sometimes important to look beyond emotions and rationalize situations, I believe that emotions are our only way as humans of interacting with others and emotions dictate what in life is fun and exciting and what isn't. Without emotions and feelings, I believe that life would no longer exist. Emotional intelligence is an oxymoron because if one is intelligent, then often they will know when to not be emotional and when to rationalize a situation so that they can find the way through it. With emotions such as love in particular, it is easy to sacrifice your own well being of the well being of another and it is our responsibility as individuals to rationally think about what is going on and make a change so that we are putting ourselves first. Although emotions bring the bad into the world, they are also the only reason that there is any good.
Question #4. To what degree is emotion biological or “hard-wired”, and hence universal to all human beings? To what extent is it shaped by culture and hence displayed differently in different societies.
ReplyDeleteI think as human beings, we are all in a sense "hard-wired" to certain emotions. When we are down or sad, we tend to mope or cry. Is this something we can control? I do not believe so. As a human, when this certain emotion occurs, or how we react to a situation seems to fall under a certain action or how we display this emotion. Another example is when we are happy, we smile and when we think something is funny, we laugh. These actions are something that's just "hard-wired" into our systems and we cannot control these actions. It is as if we were born with these emotional reactions. Emotion is shaped by different cultures and society's, we know this because people react to the same situation with different emotions. Somebody in the South will react to something differently than somebody who lives in New York City. In some cultures, some emotions may be more relevant than the same emotion in a different culture.
Question #3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
I think that it is possible to experience an emotion, feeling, attitude, or sensibility that does not pertain to an expression of language. As human beings, I believe that we do not react in a physical way to every emotion, and some emotions cannot be put into words. The expression of an "indescribable feeling" is true, in many situations that do not come by very often or once-in-a-lifetime things. These occurrences often cannot be described in language due to the rarity of that occurrence, and the lack of understanding. Thus this feeling is something you can only feel and not describe to someone. Love is a very tricky feeling or emotion, us humans has tried to describe this feeling in almost every work of literature, every single story of romance is told in a different use of language. Not a single love story is the same, not a single feeling of love is the same. This is why love is so difficult to describe to one-another in language, because it is basically indescribable.
1) Feelings can have some sort of rational base, but even this is based on shared emotions and what we believe as a society to be acceptable reactions to things. Not everyone will react in the same way to certain events, but there is a general consensus in what reactions are “normal”. For example, when someone buys you a present or does something kind for you, the normal reaction would be a feeling of gratitude. Or when your go to your car and see that someone ran into it and left a dent in the bumper but did not leave a note, the normal reaction would be anger. Other emotions, however cannot always be justified. Like when you just feel sad for no real reason. It would be better if emotions could always be justified because it would allow us as a species to connect better over shared reactions to things. I believe that emotions and feelings are necessary because they drive so much of our lives. Some things we do out of necessity to survive, like eat, but other things that benefit us as a species are based on emotional responses, like caring for our families. Emotional intelligence is not an oxymoron because people can have the capacity to express their emotions and be empathetic with others.
ReplyDelete2) I think that the knowledge of how to interact with others and how to work in a group comes from emotions. It is nearly impossible to work on a group project without handling the emotions of everyone else in the group as well as your own. Perhaps young children might not understand the role of emotions when working with others since they often do not understand empathy or sympathy. Women also tend to be more empathetic than men, but this is a broad generalization and does not apply to everyone. In our culture most jobs and careers involve working with others in some capacity and emotional intelligence is necessary in those cases. In other cultures where teamwork is not as emphasized there may be no real need for emotions in society, but I have yet to hear of a culture that does not rely on some form on community. AS for socioeconomic groups, generally lower income people have to work more as employees and need to work with others. Higher income people may just be able to succeed by having others do things for them and not need to interact with many people on their own level. This would cause lower income people to put more emphasis on the necessity of emotion in intelligence and higher income to put less emphasis.
1. Feelings can have a rational basis to an extent, in that emotions are directly influenced by external causes and therefore have a reason for existence. They are not, however, rational in the sense that the particular emotion can be justified. Emotions always have causes, but these causes elicit varying emotions depending on individual and situation despite similar circumstance. Emotions are irrational in that they display this unpredictability. Emotions are better off as unjustifiable reactions. If they could be justified, they would no longer be emotions but logical actions. The point to the existence of emotions is that they are impulse feelings beyond rationality. Furthermore, emotions often if not always act faster as a reaction than logical reasoning does, making them the better option for reacting quickly to stressful situations. Emotions are essential to our lives, in that they allow us to make judgements and differentiations that would not be possible with reason alone. They allow us to quickly apply negativity or positivity from past situations to present ones to allow individuals to quickly determine how to proceed. "Emotional intelligence" is not an oxymoron. Some individuals are better attuned to the emotions of others and therefore more able to empathize and socialize. This kind of intelligence allows the individuals that possess it to tailor their actions to elicit specific reactions from others, thereby allowing them to more easily interact with other people.
ReplyDelete3. It is possible to experience an emotion or feeling that cannot be expressed in precise terms. There is not, however, an emotion that cannot be expressed in abstract terms. Poets and particularly flowery writers have been using figurative language to describe emotion as long as it has existed. They might not be able to totally nail down how that feeling is experienced by all people at all times, but they are able at least to roughly communicate their emotions. How we describe emotions is certainly shaped by language. If we experience a feeling or emotion that cannot be described, than instead of resorting to metaphor, as mentioned above, we might instead choose to approximate to the closest linguistic match. In this way, the singular words or phrases that we use to describe emotion represent groups of similar reactions rather than precise feelings. This is why love encapsulates both romantic and platonic feelings, and grief can be felt after a failed test or after the death of a loved one.
4) Emotion is highly biological in the sense that our parents have taught us how to feel in certain situations. Along with the idea of hard-wiring emotion, I'd like to bring up that Disney movies also teach us to feel certain ways by creating characters that are extremely expressive with their feelings. If a character begins to cry, we know we should feel sad. If they are jumping up and down and their face is turning red, they are angry. The same process applies to other emotions. We learn at a young age how we should react emotionally to different statements and situations, and it is reiterated by TV shows and animated movies. Another way of looking at it is that we are shown at a young age, usually kindergarten or preschool, the faces and expressions that correlate to specific emotions. There is a red face for anger, a crying face for sadness, a smile for happiness, a squiggly mouth for nervousness, etc. We easily associate emotions with these expressions, so we know how to react to them when they erupt in our minds, and that is why I believe that emotions are hard-wired into us.
ReplyDelete3) I absolutely agree that there are emotions that cannot be expressed with language. Everyone has had at least one moment in their life where they have felt a certain way, but there is no name for it. Just now thinking about it, depression is a perfect example of this. Depression is an emotional state, and it is sometimes often described as "sadness". It's more complicated than that. Whenever someone asks me, "What is it like to be depressed/have depression?", I can never accurately describe it. Or, rather, I can't describe it in a way that makes sense to the general public. It makes sense to me in my head, so I assume it makes sense in other's. That's not always the case. Depression is a great example of an emotion that cannot, or is very difficult to, be expressed through language.
1) I personally don’t believe feelings are irrational or unjustified. Part of being human, among other species, is having emotions. When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me that feelings are just a person’s way of expressing their opinions of experiences. I believe this expression of the human experience is essential, because of it we’ve created poetry and art that would be almost meaningless without emotional awareness. Just because something is potentially unpredictable and can’t necessarily be explained, that doesn’t mean it’s invaluable.
ReplyDelete4) I think on a certain level, basic emotions are hardwired into the human brain. We all feel some spectrum of elation to depression in our own way along with some other common feelings. Fear is a major one, many people have a fear of heights because it’s a genetic safeguard to keep us away from potentially life threatening situations. I think the basic emotions we all possess, and some that select people possess, are formed by the culture someone lives in. Different societies, whether it comes from ancient religious text or just general societal norms, have different ways of expressing emotions acceptably. For example, maybe one culture values anger as a sign of strength and power, and to kill one’s enemy is honorable and brave; while another culture may value peace above all, making murder, or even homicidal thoughts, unacceptable.
1. I do think that feelings could have a rational basis. Most people think that feelings could not reliable or rational, because when you are feeling a some type of strong emotion toward something, that emotion might make you make a decision or opinion that you really don't want to make. But when I think about that concept I ask the question, "isn't every type of feeling an emotion?" if so, than wouldn't the feeling of "rationalism" be considered an emotion? So if the argument was that "emotions cant be rational" than would be contradictory. I think it would be better if emotions could be ratified. because then we could know how people really feel. We could even solve crimes better and with better justice. I think emotions are an essential part of being human, because without emotions are you even human at all? I think 'emotional intelligence' isn'y an oxymoron, because i think you need emotion to be intelligent.
ReplyDelete3. I think it is possible to experience an emotion, feeling, attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language. Even if it isn't possible i think it would be very difficult to find words to try to explain or make you feel an emotion. For example, if you feel the emotion grief how do you use words to describe it? Surely you would just say 'rain' and you've solved it right? See i do not think its that simple. If you use the word 'rain', it might make some other type of people happy. It is all about what experiences you've had that can make you feel positive of negative emotions to a word.
1. I do think that feelings could have a rational basis. Most people think that feelings could not reliable or rational, because when you are feeling a some type of strong emotion toward something, that emotion might make you make a decision or opinion that you really don't want to make. But when I think about that concept I ask the question, "isn't every type of feeling an emotion?" if so, than wouldn't the feeling of "rationalism" be considered an emotion? So if the argument was that "emotions cant be rational" than would be contradictory. I think it would be better if emotions could be ratified. because then we could know how people really feel. We could even solve crimes better and with better justice. I think emotions are an essential part of being human, because without emotions are you even human at all? I think 'emotional intelligence' isn'y an oxymoron, because i think you need emotion to be intelligent.
ReplyDelete3. I think it is possible to experience an emotion, feeling, attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language. Even if it isn't possible i think it would be very difficult to find words to try to explain or make you feel an emotion. For example, if you feel the emotion grief how do you use words to describe it? Surely you would just say 'rain' and you've solved it right? See i do not think its that simple. If you use the word 'rain', it might make some other type of people happy. It is all about what experiences you've had that can make you feel positive of negative emotions to a word.
2.
ReplyDeleteAlthough knowledge and emotion typically are antonyms to an extent, there are kinds of knowledge that can be obtained solely through emotion. Specifically, I believe that emotion can produce information about an individuals intuition. Intuition provides a person with the intelligence to discern alternate meanings or motives of certain situations. In today’s world this becomes prevalent during a meaningful conversation. Hidden meanings and deeper feelings display themselves through facial expressions and body posture, allowing a knowledgeable person to, to an extent, read how someone reacts to certain cues and opinions.
The knower of this piece of knowledge can apply it to better understand an employer during a job interview, a girlfriend/boyfriend during an argument, and many other social interactions. Since emotion displays a person’s intuition, and a person’s intuition is an area of knowledge, emotion displays an area of knowledge.
To an extent, factors of age, gender, culture, and socioeconomic background may very well affect the way emotion is displayed. The factors of age, gender, and culture are all significant enough to provide a historical background behind why someone might react to something in a certain way. I think that with this psychoanalytical lens, the knowledge revealed is not one of intuition, but maybe one of ecology and how certain groups differ through their social interactions and interpretations. In my opinion, these factors or gender, age, and culture are less significant than reading ones emotional signals for recognition and reasoning.
3.
This question asks if language cannot express an emotion, and in order to fully answer this question, I would have to describe the emotion through language. However, I still truly believe that emotion can be experienced and not explained.
Emotion can signal a hard-wired response that represents a response variable molded throughout generations in history. For example, a person typically forms a fighting stance when particularly angry. In the modern day, the exponential rate of change causes a new paradigm in mental and physical strain that is not directly connected to the thousands of years of surviving on this Earth. For example, the fight or flight response mechanism has become obsolete in most modern day situations, because how do you run away from being fired? Or competing against a new business opponent? You do not and therefore new words have been created to describe these situations.
Although my example of work related stress can be explained by language, I believe it is an example of a new paradigm in emotional responses, and I argue that we must feel feelings that our minds cannot directly comprehend, or at least that we are not directly aware of yet.
Is the Mona Lisa displaying only one emotion, and is her expression so ambiguous because we cannot yet comprehend what her facial expression represents?
2.
ReplyDeleteAlthough knowledge and emotion typically are antonyms to an extent, there are kinds of knowledge that can be obtained solely through emotion. Specifically, I believe that emotion can produce information about an individuals intuition. Intuition provides a person with the intelligence to discern alternate meanings or motives of certain situations. In today’s world this becomes prevalent during a meaningful conversation. Hidden meanings and deeper feelings display themselves through facial expressions and body posture, allowing a knowledgeable person to, to an extent, read how someone reacts to certain cues and opinions.
The knower of this piece of knowledge can apply it to better understand an employer during a job interview, a girlfriend/boyfriend during an argument, and many other social interactions. Since emotion displays a person’s intuition, and a person’s intuition is an area of knowledge, emotion displays an area of knowledge.
To an extent, factors of age, gender, culture, and socioeconomic background may very well affect the way emotion is displayed. The factors of age, gender, and culture are all significant enough to provide a historical background behind why someone might react to something in a certain way. I think that with this psychoanalytical lens, the knowledge revealed is not one of intuition, but maybe one of ecology and how certain groups differ through their social interactions and interpretations. In my opinion, these factors or gender, age, and culture are less significant than reading ones emotional signals for recognition and reasoning.
3.
This question asks if language cannot express an emotion, and in order to fully answer this question, I would have to describe the emotion through language. However, I still truly believe that emotion can be experienced and not explained.
Emotion can signal a hard-wired response that represents a response variable molded throughout generations in history. For example, a person typically forms a fighting stance when particularly angry. In the modern day, the exponential rate of change causes a new paradigm in mental and physical strain that is not directly connected to the thousands of years of surviving on this Earth. For example, the fight or flight response mechanism has become obsolete in most modern day situations, because how do you run away from being fired? Or competing against a new business opponent? You do not and therefore new words have been created to describe these situations.
Although my example of work related stress can be explained by language, I believe it is an example of a new paradigm in emotional responses, and I argue that we must feel feelings that our minds cannot directly comprehend, or at least that we are not directly aware of yet.
Is the Mona Lisa displaying only one emotion, and is her expression so ambiguous because we cannot yet comprehend what her facial expression represents?
3. Yes, personally I think that it is quite possible to feel emotions that you just simply cannot put into words. Almost every time that I have felt that blood lust in my life, I have never felt that I was able to properly show the victim what they made me feel. I was never able to express the emotion I was feeling in a way that I thought was enough to compensate for what was going on inside my head. It has happened many times on the opposite side of the spectrum as well. Take for example, finally deciding to ask your crush on that date that you have always fantasized about in your mind, and hearing that beautiful word, "yes!" That moment of pure elation and happiness cannot ever be put into words, at least not in a way that could explain to the reader exactly what the person was feeling at the time. So, once again, yes it is very possible to feel emotions inside that cannot possibly be shown physically.
ReplyDelete2. I think that if everything we knew was stored within a great library inside of our minds, that emotion would have its own branch of that library, and it would be huge. Emotion is behind all kinds of knowledge. How could you know what its like to love and lose when you never loved in the first place? When you feel emotions on the extremist of scales, a lot of things happen inside you and you get a chance to take a step back and reflect upon who and what you are and maybe what you can do to change yourself for the better. Without emotions you could have never reached this level of thinking, so in that way I would say that yes there is quite a lot of information that you cannot just be told. You have to feel these emotions to finally learn what life is doing to you. Basically somethings you have to experience yourself, that is all.
3. I do personally believe that it is very likely that you can experience an emotion that does not have a title in the english language. It would be very difficult to assign a name to every feeling that the human body and the mind experience in a life time. It would become a tangle of random words and I am almost positive we would all end up forgetting half of them.
ReplyDelete1. I believe that all emotions stem from a rational basis. I do not think that people feel emotions for no reason at all. Each emotion that we endure is triggered by a thought or a physical trigger like music or photographs. All emotions belong to a rational background.
2. Yes I do believe there is knowledge that can be obtained solely through emotion. When asked to define or describe an emotion it is extremely difficult, maybe even near impossible to do so because our knowledge of that emotion is purely based off the feeling we get from it. Emotions can teach us things as well, to do or not to do something based off how that made you feel is an important, every day lesson we learn as humans based off our emotions. Our emotions drive us to learn or to not learn and they are the basis of so many of our decisions. I don't believe the knowledge is dependent on any kind of gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group. I think those are factors in the different kinds of knowledge one gets from their emotions but that knowledge isn't completely dependent on those things. A boy or girl can get the same knowledge from the same emotion just as one of a different culture or age or socioeconomic group. Those factors do also affect specific knowledge one gains due to the specific emotions those scenarios cause.
ReplyDelete4. I believe to a partial if not substantial degree emotions are hard-wired into us humans and we therefore feel the same general emotions. It is the circumstances that trigger those emotions that are specific to every human being. When it comes to the basic emotions (happy, sad, angry) everyone (unless one with disabilities when it comes to emotions) can feel them. They are chemically wired in our brains to make us feel those emotions based off something occurring. To some extent our hardwiring is shaped by our culture in that our culture can dictate our opinions or knowledge of a certain something and therefore affect the feeling we get. To put it in the most basic terms, if someone lost, while the other won, there would be a trigger of two different emotions for the two people despite the same situation. Emotions are felt by everyone and to some extent are influenced by culture but everyone is different and therefore everyone has a different scenario that would trigger happiness or any of their other emotions. It was what makes us unique as individuals despite feeling the same thing.
Question #3: Yes, I definitely feel that there are emotions that we cannot truly describe using language. there are countless different emotions and even micro-emotions that human beings can experience at any given moment. I personally have experienced emotions so overwhelming and powerful I have had trouble expressing them and accurately conveying them to others. However, I do also feel that some emotions can be explained through language and I feel that some emotions can be universally known and understood due to their lingual context.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #4: Emotions are something that all people have and experience starting from infancy. Some people can be more emotional and can experience some emotions more frequently than others. the basis of emotion is something that I feel we are all born with, even if some people have trouble conveying their emotions and others avoid their emotions in order to avoid conflict with others. I do also believe that culture plays a role on how people express their emotions. In some cultures people do not show certain emotions like sadness because they view it as a sign of weakness. While many cultures have different ways for showing and expressing emotions, I feel that all people can experience the same emotions.
Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
ReplyDeleteI believe that knowledge in many ways can be through emotion. Our emotions are reactionary devices used by telling us how we feel in correlation to some event. This reaction can inform us of ourselves and how we respond to certain scenarios. These reactions and emotions correlated to an event do not necessarily pertain to a specific gender nor culture nor socioeconomic group, but rather the individual themselves. All people react a certain way and have certain emotions that pertain to this event. I don't believe that it can be classified to anything other than natural human reactions.
Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
I believe that it is very possible to feel an emotion that is not capable of being described through language. Sometimes there is no way ti out into words how much love you feel for someone and how infuriated you may be. Emotion is a tricky thing in that I don't believe that you are ever really truly able to describe exactly what it is you are feeling. Sure, there are words that may have a meaning that pertains to an emotion, but who knows if one persons jealousy has the same affect as another. And who knows the extent to which these emotions are felt. I think that in many ways that is why music and art and dance and whatever other art forms were created. They were created in order to portray an emotion or story that could not be told through the use of language. But is there ever truly a way to explain to someone exactly how you feel other than for them to experience the exact same emotion?
Victoria Martinez
ReplyDeleteDecember 1, 2016
Van Tuyl
TOK/ Per. 2
Emotion
2. Is there any kind of knowledge which can be obtained solely through emotion? Is the answer to the question dependent on factors such as gender, age, culture, and/or socioeconomic group?
Emotions play a powerful role in shaping thoughts, influencing behavior, and steering the pursuit of knowledge. While emotions may be a key to self understanding and to understand the world, the extent to which they contribute to discussion of questions like those that follow, probing the nature, value, and limits of emotion as a way knowing. Emotions shapes our knowledge it does not help or create knowledge.
3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
Personally I believe that it’s possible to experience an emotion that words cannot be expressed. Emotions are more complicated than what you can categories like happy or sad and there isn’t words that can express how we feel. We can link and categorize emotions with words but I think that describing how you felt is harder than why you felt that. They’re felt by oneself and sometimes feelings cannot be put into words. It’s sometimes difficult to find the correct words when speaking about your emotions or how you feel.
Emotion
ReplyDelete3. Is it possible to experience an emotion, a feeling, an attitude or sensibility that cannot be expressed in language? Can an emotion, such as love or grief, have its origins in, or be shaped by, language?
It is definitely possible to have an emotion or something close that cannot be expressed in language. We can come close to sharing this emotion in language but it never truly can be understood by some one else. There are emotions and attitudes that cannot be fully expressed, I know this from experience, as sometimes I have been completely unable to describe to someone else what I was feeling, because no words I knew were able to get my message across, or really held the full magnitude of what I was feeling. Furthermore, while I don't believe that emotions have their origins in language, merely that it is the reverse in that some emotions created new words and helped shape language. But I do believe that some emotions were shaped by language, such as grief. Grief effects everyone differently, it may be heavy and sharp, or dull and throbbing, and this helps others to understand what it may feel like. Not only that but some words took on double meanings because of the way we would use them to describe the way we are feeling.
1. Can feelings have a rational basis? Would it be better or worse if emotions could be justified? Are emotions and feelings essential? Is 'emotional intelligence' an oxymoron?
Feelings can definitely have a rational basis, such as being mad when someone says something negative about you or someone you care about. I would have to say it's better when emotions can be justified as it lends validity to anything learned to them, and forces one to take them seriously. Emotions and feelings are essential to life as we know it, in a global and more open society, it's imperative to understand other people in order to know how to connect to other people, and how to prevent conflicts. Emotional intelligence isn't necessarily an oxymoron, though sometimes it seems like one. Many emotions cause one to act as though they have lost all sense and previous knowledge, but many others still allow one to learn something new, such as how babies learn how to interact with others and what to do and not to do based upon the emotions expressed on people's faces.
3. I believe that it is absolutely possible to experience emotions that you can't really express through language. If you just feel something that's absolutely amazing and it overwhelms you, there's just no way to describe it. I 100% believe that emotions can be shaped by language because say you just fell in love, it makes you so much more happy and more people actually like to be around you. So emotions send a silent message to others telling them ya I feel great come talk to me; or it could also be something like don't come near me right now I'm pissed off
ReplyDelete1. Yes of course feelings can have a rational basis. I don't know how feelings would not have a rational basis. I also think that it would be better if emotions are justified because this would mean that you actually have a rational reason behind what you're feeling and everything would just make more sense in a way. Yes emotions and feelings are essential but essential to what is the question.