What role do emotions play in consciousness?

[metaldude82]

What are Dr. Damasio's theological views (theist, atheist, etc.)?

[RolloT1247]

@metaldude82 I'm not sure why that's relevant.

[metaldude82]

@RolloT1247 I am always curious about scientists' views. Do you know?

[brammatron]

i like his glasses.

[ZZzzzzzWhat]

well said



[geezzerboy]

I read one of his books years ago, it was pretty much, "the sky is blue, and water is wet', ya OK. And? He is still making the utterly obvious sound like Revelations from on High. How about some solutions Doc?

[ashwadhwani]

Yea man, I feel ya ♥

[BalmungSama0]

A Portuguese psychologist. FINALLY! Honestly, I'm a 3rd year psych student, and all I keep hearing about is Germans, Americans, Brits, French, and Italians. Finally someone from my own culture!

[golsno147]

What Damasio is failing to do here is specify any difference between instinctual actions (which are frequently not associated with emotion) and responses following the subjective experience of emotion. He presents "emotions" as discrete phenomena providing a range of strategies, or a facility to replace some, as protection or to benefit participation available to "thinking" and "non-thinking" life forms, All life forms have instinctual strategies to satisfy needs and afford

protection.

[crzeval]

@golsno147 @golsno147

One last key point re your first point is perhaps the importance of clarifying the difference between reflexive, instinctual, and automatic. There is a difference between an sea slug's reflexive (and also instinctive) gill withdrawal, and a monkeys EMOTIONAL, (and also instinctive) fear of snakes. This fear would be different from a learned fear of, say, shiny objects.

This is all explained in good detail in damasios excellent book, "in search of spinoza"

[golsno147]

@crzeval I refer you to numerous comments I have made on other videos to gain a clearer understanding of my assertions. They are based on criticising a failure to distinguish between emotion as subjective experience and the associated physiological changes on the one hand and the moods, sensations, stresses, pleasures, satisfaction , adjustments of attitudes , belief structures and strategies, responses e.g. body language , facial expression and behaviour which may follow from emotion.

[golsno147]

@crzeval You refer to instinctual fear , emotional fear and learned fear in relation to other living organisms. You would have to elucidate the difference -I don't believe there is any in terms of the onset emotion. Each engages a perception of threat.

[golsno147]

Damasio claims we are " always emoting " and talks of "emotional responses" On the former we do not experience emotion when we are in equilibrium i.e. When no aspect of the environment or our perceived life situation is appraised either as threatening or promising. e.g. dreamless sleep. "Emotional response" suggests there is no element of cognitive activity beyond a perception of threat or promise when we "re-act instictively" - Is knowing what we are doing in response not cognition.?

[crzeval]

@golsno147 Extremely keen insight in your question... so let me give it a shot (I have read damasio's book on this). With the first point, while there may indeed be such rare moments you describe of "equilibrium" in life they are few and far between. The only example I can think of is eastern meditation and only in extreme forms of experiencing either pure, or non-, consciousness, where there is little emotional monitoring. In dreams however, your brain is actually quite active...

[golsno147]

@crzeval A state of equilibrium, in the context of how I define emotion, is limited to the absence of specific episodic perceptions of either threat or promise. which induce physiological changes. We can experience mood changes , assimilate information, and have numerous experiences without the disturbances of equilibrium which induce physiological changes to cope with threat or promise.. To suggest otherwise is to say that every mood or percption during wakefulness disturbs equilibrium.

[crzeval]

@golsno147 (cont) ... In fact that emotional perception--in this case of 'created' narratives an-- imagery is what makes you wake up physically shaken after a nightmare! In dreams this *process* is non conscious but the mental narrative and imagery created can still be laid down in memory if recalled soon enough. In sum, what damasio is speaking of is what happens day in and day out...even when we seem content, and there is nothing pushing us or pulling us, our brains are constantly..

[crzeval]

@golsno147 ...self-monitoring to produce appropriate responses to internal or external events. Even in dreamless sleep, the brain still shows a large amount of self regulatory activity so that you can get responses from a sleeping person without hem waking up!!! (Think of whip cream pranks!). When our unsuspecting buddy smears whip cream all over after a feather tickle, it is a response to he environment they are unaware of...they might even make disgruntled noises without waking up.

[crzeval]

@golsno147 Point #2 -- Yes, "knowing what we are doing" is a cognitive process; however, this occurs AFTER a response (we know this) and is a separate process. Again what damasio is saying is that trigger--> body emotive response --> brain's automatic appraisal of body change --> conscious feeling.

[golsno147]

@crzeval Instead we have a large vocabulary of emotion terminology which is not descriptive of emotion as a phenomenon but of implications of our perceiving a personal act or failing in terms of our survival well being and quality of life..The vocabulary includes atributions as to what aspect of our existence was or remains threatend or offered promise by the inducing stimulus.e.g. shame guilt embarrassment are terms we accord to the impact of the action of failing on our self-image.

[thesunshon]

devoshon emoshon

[dewinthemorning]

Fav'ed!