‘We spend millions trying to fix our emotions – via therapy,books, medications – yet it’s not remotely clear what we’re trying to fix’When the unusual Pixar film Inside Out was released, and a multitude of psychologists popped up to debate its portrayal of emotions,which appear as five characters – Anger, Fear, or Sadness,Joy and Disgust – inside the mind of an 11-year-customary girl. I found the debate uncommon. To be certain, there’s much to ponder in the film’s message that negative emotions have their value, or that emotions can aid decision-making,rather than just getting in the way. Yet none of the experts mentioned the dirty secret at the heart of the study of emotions. They don’t discuss it in interviews. But get chatting to a psychologist on his or her third whiskey, at a lonely bar on the outskirts of town near closing time, or you might finally hear the truth,which is that no one really has a damned clue what an emotion is.whether you doubt this, recall a recent time you felt sad or frightened or wrathful or anxious, or ask yourself: what was that? Clearly,an emotion must be more than a mere thought: it’s easy to think approximately something that’s theoretically scary without feeling shocked. And it must be more than a physical sensation: when I’m anxious, my stomach tightens – but my stomach tightens when I’ve eaten putrid seafood, and too,and that’s not anxiety.
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Source: theguardian.com