Re.: Emotions

Message
[From David M. Goldstein (2004.01.03.2319 EST)]

OK, let us see what we have so far.

(1) Emotion is defined by taking the insider point of view. A complete definition in a particular case will describe the situation as perceived by the person, the person’s bodily state as suggested by feeling words such as happy/sad, angry/afraid, and a description of what the person wants or the person’s goal(s) in the situation.

I think that is what all of you said.

It is interesting what is different about this definition. It does not make any reference to specific actions.

It makes specific reference to wants and goals.

(2) We agreed to focus on humans and not other animals.

(3) We agreed to try to define things so that it could apply to a person of any culture.

Describe the situation.

Describe the feelings you had in the situation.

Describe what you were wanting, what your goals were in the situation.

Is this what we all agree on so far?

Message
[From David Goldstein (2004.01.05.556 EST)]

Some further thoughts about our definition of emotions.

Describe the situation.

The person’s description will suggest what in the situation was important to the person. The PCT hierarchy may prove useful to further define the person’s situation description.

Describe the feelings you had in the situation.

The most basic description seems to be I am having feelings or I am not having feelings about the situation. (sensation level). If a person is having a feeling, it can vary along a strong or weak dimension (intensity). The feeling could be changing over time (transitons, events). The feelings can be related to aspects of the situation (relationships). The feelings can be described as good or bad (categories). The feelings can follow a patterned sequence as in happy, sad, happy, sad, etc… or angry, afraid, angry, afraid, etc…

Describe what you were wanting, what your goals were in the situation.

A person may want or not want something about the situation. It seems that if we simply ask the person whether s/he would want to change the situation or leave it alone we could find out. Asking the person how specifically s/he would want to change the situation would provide more information. We would find out if the person wants big or little changes.

David

David M. Goldstein, Ph.D.

It is interesting what is different
about this definition. It does not make any reference to specific
actions.
[From Bill Powers (2004.01.05.1155 MST)]

David M. Goldstein (2004.01.03.2319 EST)

···

How would a theory of emotion make reference to specific actions? Are you
speaking of things like a desire to attack or flee, where attacking and
fleeing might be considered as actions (I would think of them as
goals)?

It makes specific reference to wants and
goals.

OK, but is there any specific action that always goes with achieving a
given goal? Considering the disturbances that usually exist?

Describe
the situation.

Describe the feelings you had in the situation.

Describe what you were wanting, what your goals were in the
situation.

Is this what we all agree on so
far?

Sounds good enough to go on with.
I’ll try your outline with a few additions:
Situation: Marc tells me I haven’t had a new
idea since 1973.
Error: Immediate thought that this is unfair and untrue. A desire
to list all the things I’ve written and done since then, with the purpose
of showing Marc (and everybody else who reads that) that this isn’t true.
Thoughts in the background – have I really lost it? What would I
do if I really coudn’t think up new ideas any more? It’s bound to happen
some day – has it happened already? BIG error. Got to do something about
this.
Desired result of action: make Marc eat his words and grovel and take it
all back. Hurt him. Get even.
Conflict. But I don’t do that sort of thing and wouldn’t want to be seen
doing it. I can’t just sit and take it, I have to do SOMETHING.
There’s nothing I can do except hit back. And I don’t want to do that.
(Starting to feel upset and hot under the collar).
Emotion: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.
Resolution. There is, in fact, nothing I can do to change Marc. I look at
my current and recent projects and see that my fear of losing my
abilities is premature. I look at the idea of hurting Marc and
realize that if I succeeded I’d really be sorry and anyway would probably
just make him explode more violently. I really *don’t * want to
get even. I can be the judge of my own contributions. It’s better just to
get on with life, and keep working away at PCT. That’s really all I
want. Finally, after enough hours, I really have no more desire to strike
back – and I am no longer having the feeling that my body is ready
for violent actions.

So that, more or less, is what I hope a good theory of emotion
would explain with a model having a minimum of moving parts or
special-order lubrication.

Best,

Bill P.