Nathan/MT: You only need emotions when you're dealing with problems that are problematic, ill-structured, and involving potentially infinite reasoning. (Chess qualifies as that for a human being, not for a program).
Those with severed connections from the amygdala (the emotional machine of the brain) behave somewhat indifferently in any given activity, not knowing which choice is the best. These individuals often make poor decisions, not knowing which options to take once discovered. Emotional machinery has an intelligence of its own and can reinforce what it means to be rational if appropriately understood and harnessed by cognitive machinery (the neocortex). Nathan, Actually I'm suggesting that emotions have nothing to do with being rational - in the strict sense. If you are dealing with a rational problem, to which there is an optimal or right or satisficing answer, and for which you have the appropriate algorithm, you have no need whatsoever for emotions. They just get in the way. It's when you are dealing with a problematic problem, where there are no such answers, and you don't know what to do, that you need - and have - emotions. You don't need emotions when you're adding up how much money you have. You do need, and have them, when you're trying to work out how much money to invest on the stockmarket. You/Nathan don't need them when spelling "amygdala", you do need and have them when composing your post and proposing your ideas about the amygdala's function.. ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=101455710-f059c4 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
