RE: [agi] AGI's and emotions

[Ben Goertzel]

It's true that emotional reactions are often predictable on the medium scale -- yeah, I can predict that I'll get angry if you hit my wife on the head, or happy if you give me a billion dollar check   However, from the point of view of the cognitive mind (in particular the decision-making part of the mind, which we associate with "free will"), emotions correspond to activity that was neither    a) driven mainly by cognitive activity, nor b) driven mainly by external events   Cognition of external events may *trigger* emotional experiences, but the dynamics of the experiences themselves are controlled by the mammalian and reptilian brain, not by the cognitive brain nor by the external world....  This is why there is no "free will" feeling attached to these experiences, unlike the case with experiences driven more thoroughly and directly by the cognitive brain.   -- Ben   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]On Behalf Of deering Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 11:09 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [agi] AGI's and emotions An unexpected mental event or an unplanned mental excursion does not in itself constitute an emotion.  An epileptic seizure is not an emotion.  Most emotions, perhaps all, are very predictable from causes.  You will the lottery or the girl next door says "yes" and you are happy.  Someone runs into your classic Beetle, and you are sad.  You finish a major work of great value, and you feel joy.  There is nothing mysterious about these emotions, no unpredictable mental dynamics.  I don't consider "confusion" an emotion.  I consider it a error in processing.  I know I'm not telling you anything new.  You surely understand all of this already.  Therefore I must be missing some fundamental aspect of your thoughts on emotions.  I have to admit, I've never been very good at emotions, and tend to ignore them.  I feel like we must be talking past each other, but I can't imagine how we could be ambiguous about an experience as fundamental as emotion.  We all have them.  It's the ocean our thoughts swim in, waves taking us to and fro, and sometimes crashing us against the rocks. To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]