CAN YOU IDENTIFY YOUR EMOTIONS accurately???

by Terry 69 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  fifi40

  Oxford English Dictionary definition of a source - a place, person or thing from which something originates.

  For those that have been indoctrinated with a belief system, it can be that the only source/beginning/start/cause for them to examine that belief system and hence bring about change to it, is their emotional reaction to it.

  As an example of this I will speak of my own experience. I was taught the belief system of Jehovahs Witnesses from birth. For years I accepted it as the 'truth' and as being true. I remember studying with a man who had lost his mother and was desperate for answers. I felt uncomfortable with the answers I was giving. Those feelings of discomfort were the starting point of my questioning all that I had been taught and supposedly believed.

  If I keep on doing what I have always done but I feel sad, angry, depressed about it I am not listening to those feelings; or the information those feelings are trying to give me (that something is not right in my world, that I need to examine my beliefs). Those feelings or emotions can be the starting point or source of my examining what is wrong in my world or my belief system.

  Also if I smile at you what does it tell you about me? If I am crying and you walk into the room what does it tell you? If I look angry what does it tell you?

  Your source of information is the emotion I am showing by my facial expression or body language. We read it every day in other people, we recognise that somebody is happy, sad or angry for example.

  Emotion can be a source of information.
• 

  Terry

  First of all humans are not computers, a computer cannot feel lust and indignation.

  Just as airplane design was influenced by birds physicality; so too were computers designed by how the human mind rationally and logically processes information. It comes down to a list of command values with options.

  This is highly analogous to a human being.

  To ask a healthy heterosexual man to NOT feel great attraction to a beautiful, sexy female co-worker would be to ask him to stop being human. He has to "control" his emotions to keep from acting on them when he knows it would lead to bad result

  Hold on a minute! This is stereotyping. Are you saying ALL males think, act and react exactly the same way? No wonder you misunderstand the point I'm making.

  Each individual is an individual (rather than a clone) because of the differences in the value systems of each. Depending on the values of each male there will be entirely different behaviors! Some will not even look because they are not rude to others or themselves!

  A wide scale of behavior is possible from one extreme to another extreme with most falling in the middle with standard distributions of actions/reactions.

  Similarly with a person who rudely cuts in front of you on the freeway. A normal human reaction is to become angry

  Sorry to disagree again. "Normal"? Once again each person thinks/acts differently. In a survival situation we atavistically react to instantaneous threatening situations with "fight" or "flight" because it is pro-survival. The "anger" you mention might mistakenly be nothing more than an adrenaline rush.
• 

  Terry

  there are four types of laughter

  1. Benevolent loving --- Ho Ho Ho

  2. Derisive - -- Ha Ha Ha

  3. Laughter guilt or embarassment Hee Hee

  4. Laughter of discovery Ah Hah

  All clearly "value" driven responses too!
• 

  Terry

  Also if I smile at you what does it tell you about me? If I am crying and you walk into the room what does it tell you? If I look angry what does it tell you?

  Your source of information is the emotion I am showing by my facial expression or body language. We read it every day in other people, we recognise that somebody is happy, sad or angry for example.

  Emotion can be a source of information.

  Nice try!

  You've switched context, however.

  The context was internal, personal and subjective. For ME to look inward to my "feelings" as a source of information is what I was discussing. NOT an outside person observing an emotional reaction in somebody else and identifying what sort of emotion it is.

  I am speaking of the Star Wars philosophy "Trust your feelings, Luke". This is mystical belief that emotion is wiser than we are rationally and requires us to empty our logical / rational / aware mind and tune in to the emotion for a "greater truth" leading to enlightenment.

  I've compared this to a student falling asleep on his textbook.

  The premise of such mysticism is that we "tune in" to some transcendant cosmic consciousness. Yet, none of the day to day creature needs can be satified by such an approach. Life is practical. When you have to take a crap you can't be too mystical about it.
• 

  fifi40

  Terry

  When you say 'When we disconnect from our emotional reservoir because of passive thinking we may embrace what we know to be poisonous. A JW is programmed to be passive. You must accept what you are told and what you read as Absolute Truth.......This is how a person can consciously know something is false and yet be emotionally stuck feeling a warmth and attatchment to the false belief.'

  But if the person does not consciously recognise something to be false, because they were raised on it, taught it as Absolute Truth it can happen the other way round. It can happen, that, they are emotionally uncomfortable with what has been INDOCTRINATED into them. Young minds that are poisoned with a belief system that requires obedience at any cost, dont necessarily question the belief system first. They are severely discouraged from going to other places for information and fear can keep them in that place. I grew up 'fearing' looking at apostate material or reasonings, 'fearing' taking a life saving blood transfusion etc. I believed those teachings to be true with my whole heart and mind. It had successfully been poisoned; I didnt need to look anywhere else, I already had the best. I have heard JWs say 'Why eat hamburgers, when you already have steak'.

  My emotional response to certain events was the start of me questioning that mind numbing, toxic, deeply entrenched belief system.

  Another example of this for me (and I use it genuinely and not as emotional leverage) was the birth of my first son. I was lying in a hospital bed, extremely poorly, having given birth to a 12 week premature and also very poorly baby boy. I was asked by the doctors about the blood issue in relation to my son. Now, any reasoning, logical thinking parent would say 'Do what it takes' and my heart, mind and emotional response were just that 'Do whatever it takes.' But the words that came out of my mouth were 'I dont want him to have blood' and I believed I was right to say that. I was blindly stumbling on because of my deep-rooted belief sytem and ignoring all the emotional response my body was having to this decision. I ignored the feelings of relief and gladness on knowing that he would be made a ward of court and receive blood regardless. In this instance my emotions were wiser than my logical, rational, aware mind. If I had listened to those feelings sooner I may have been out of the organisation more quickly.

  When your rationale has been twisted and manipulated from birth, having a 'gut feeling' that something isnt right can be the simplest piece of information (in the sense that your body is telling you something) that is required to start a change.

  If you are already asleep on your text book, it may take the uncomfortable feelings of your resting place, to wake you up.
• 

  zagor

  That is an excellent thread Terry. J-dubs are in perpetual state of 'emotional drunkenness' (kinda like me today after lots of Rum for all the wrong reasons lol.)

  Great synthesis, love this thread, will try to comment more later.
• 

  Golf

  I will once again repeated what I have said over and over again about the witnesses, they are "emotional misfits". I don't need a long drawn out picture about their emotional state.
  
  
  Golf
• 

  tetrapod.sapien

  Emotions begin with values.

  i disagree.

  fear is an emotion. animals experience fear, and no doubt "fear" is vestigial from our animal past. how is it that an animal has a "value" psychologically, that in turn produces fear?

  if it is the case, the "value" would be something unrecognizable to us. i would not call "survival" a value either. binary arangements (survival vs death) are not values.

  as far as the thread topic is concerned:

  the ability to identify one's emotions, imo, has to be one of the greatest human traits ever developed. generally, someone who is able to observe their physio/psycho vicious cycle (emotions), and stop the cycle if they want to, is regarded as a highly developed individual.

  the thing about this ability is that it is not really identifying *your* emotions, as it is the ability to see that you are not defined by *your* emotions. in other words, your emotions are not you, but something that occurs in the physical body of which your brain is part.

  the first step to controlling the vicious cycle (if you want to as the observer of them), is the ability to observe your ego in action. this split from identification with the ego, is something that is available to anybody, although relatively few people know it.

  a technical understanding of our animal past goes a LONG way in understanding our emotions, and the twisted dark roots from which they grow.

  tetra
• 

  YoursChelbie

  It's a nature/nurture type of distinction when it comes to emotions.

  I think INDOCTRINATION can produce certain learned emotions. That is why there are exit counselors. For some people exiting a cult is a difficult process. They need to get rid of cult learned values and behavior as well as the emotions tied to the indoctrinations they were subjected to over the course of many years.

  Nature on the other hand, provides a vast range of emotions. Some are critical to our survival, like tetra pointed out.

  If men and women were not biologically attracted to each other and ACTED on this attraction, the human species would cease to exist. If this natural attraction between the sexes were not controlled, there would not be anyone "tempted" to cheat on their spouse who could successfully fight off such temptation.

  Most parents act to protect their young when these face eminent danger. There is such thing as natural affection. If this were not the case, we would see abandoned children everywhere. Thankfully the majority of parents love their children.

  YC
• 

  Fred E Hathaway

  Thank you, YC [YoursChelbie], for stating that "It's a nature/nurture type of distinction when it comes to emotions."

  You mention that you think that INDOCTRINATION can produce certain learned emotions. You mention "exit counselors." I grew up in a non-denominational Bible study system, before I did a study with JWs that was rushed after I became baptized, which has meant that I still don't have enough control to successfully fight off temptations and so I was given restrictions almost immediately, which escalated until I was DF'd after 12½ years, for not knowing how to come forward until then about having crossed some lines years before but not knowing how to verbalize what I was going through until then. I want to become an upstanding JW with nothing to be ashamed of. Where do I turn for help?
  — Fred