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kenglander's picture

emotions and outputs

I don't think emotions can be considered forms of input nor do I think that they are physical outputs. Under certain conditions-- what we might label fear or anxiety, for example-- there may be particular trends in the flux of hormones in the nervous system (particularly the brain), but they do not necessarily translate into the same actions for all individuals. For example, if someone sees and hears a large dog barking he might experience a sense of panic. While some people may run from the dog, others might freeze, while others may not be scared of or intimidated by the dog at all. In addition, the argument for attributing actions to particular emotions is circular; the statement seems to be: "I ran because I was scared. You know I was scared because you saw me run." In other words, I don't think it makes sense to say that a particular emotion is the cause or root of one's behavior. Rather, it might make more sense to say that a person who heard a dog barking was scared and ran.

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