Wednesday, January 17, 2007
♥ Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Social Awareness. One huge hurdle to cross.
My bro blogged one about emotions. Now for the sheer excitement of argument, somewhat inspired by yesterday's titillating encounter of MGS vs St Nicks, in The Arena, and because i am particularly brain-dead and have to start 'cranking' up the engines, lets launch foolishly into debate.
We shall mimick the rules of debate and state a proposition. Now given my brother's blog, the effective proposition would be "Emotions are an essential tool to life", my brother so eloquently expressed. Well, he just said emotions are tools. But that leaves little room for debate since just about everything can be.
Emotions are nothing more than electrical impulses stimulated by our sensory systems. If we establish that as a definition or common ground for understanding, we can naturally rule out how emotions provide us such tools to life. For circumstances as perceived by the individual are effectively well, individual, one might actually go so far as to think what emotions is perceived by which individual, and if such, does it really prove to be of substantial worth.
Yes of course, in a matter of fight or flight, adrenaline does bring up the feeling of say nervousness, anxiousness, excitement. Thats established by the science advocates. Well, hypothetically, are they ONLY the tool to life? Is there no rationality involved? And lets give a person incapable of rationalising, are emotions going to serve him in the way most adequate to react to a tense situation?
One argument atheists hold in contempt for say, organised religion, is the way the notion of fear is being instilled. Moral imperatives now have no longer a philosophical foundation, but an emotional one: which also means if one actually rationalises such the idea of 'hell' or 'condemnation', and finds no meaning in it, and as a result does not fear it, well... we are effectively approaching the idea of chaos and anarchy arent we? So yes, fear does govern, but if we give it such importance and remark it as a tool to life, we are expressing more than that which is necessary. Emotions are at most, useful.
Now, we are free to redefine and reallocate parameters to the meaning of emotions, since according to wikipedia and its vast resources, 'the term has no single universally accepted definition'.
Nevertheless, emotions serve as part of a social and perhaps cultural construct. A cannibalistic native would probably see and experience murder very different from a say, you. A policeman who witnesses murder probably confronts it alot less non chalantly as from a businessman. Point being, we can generalise and speak about compassion and empathy and passion as "drives", but ultimately its choices, made more often on rational thought and decisive action that makes all the difference.
In fact, given that, we might wanna consider whether emotions have more often than not been a nuisance! What does 'a night of passion' means to you. Does it 'feel' like an emotionally charged, loosely thought out one- night- stand, for the sheer purpose of say...emotional satisfaction? Hell, the meaning of manslaughter effectively means 'murder without malice aforethought', which generally happens in a fit of say, anger? The emotion described so euphemistically as the outburst of truth, just happened to cover that aspect of truth up didnt it? ( Ok, dont get offended man, its for argument's sake and im bored.)
Walk through the thoughts of theologians and theists, and they probably tell you abit about emotions. Then, they would tell you abit about love. And finally, as if out of ostentatiousness, they will tell you the difference between love and emotions. Does a marriage couple 'feel' as much as they did, the way they did ten years before? Perhaps. But perhaps not. Emotions as tools to life??
....................................feel like i can go on. But, am tired. And it leaves room for debate. perhaps in my next post.
Anyway, there's stuff to be done tomo!
1) simlim
2) beach road
3) watch illusionist with mel
4) catechist meeting
5) confession!
ok the numbers are NOT indicative of their priorities. haha. But argh, there's just so much to do.
