> Yes, but don't forget in saying this you have recognised that this is > also our chief weapon against each other. > Is it not rather ironic that we can call 'sociopath' someone who > cannot 'fake it' emotionally to get his own way?
Ironically, most sociopaths are actually excellent at faking emotion. They just can't fake it forever, because their contrition doesn't ring true after the third act of arson. > Yes - but you can - using the power of your own mind - suppress your > emotions which is a kind of 'faking it' ie I'm not certain I agree. I think you can suppress awareness of your own emotions more readily than you can suppress the emotions themselves. It's true that people can learn to control their emotions to an extent, but it's not a large extent. Therapies that aim to control emotion cognitively aren't always successful. They work best in situations where there's a cognitive basis reinforcing the undesirable emotion. Example: depression triggered by ruminating over old traumatic experiences. > acting in a sense contrary to how you feel. Takes a bit of practice > but anybody can act. This is true, but this is mostly frontal lobe territory...suppressing dominant responses with an interest in long-term benefit. It's good that we have that...people without it are as bad as sociopaths. Frontal-temporal dementias can turn a normal, modest person into a mindlessly cussing, child-molesting exhibitionist; not because it evokes new emotion, but because it prevents the victim from being able to inhibit any of their desires. In those of us with a functioning frontal lobe, the emotions are still there under the surface and still direct action when inhibition is not logically called for. > I'm suggesting that this was the 'adaptive decision-making heuristic' > - that there is great survival value in knowing how to 'fake it' and > taking all the rest of what you say into account, this is maybe the > reason emotionality or the economy of emotionalism in human > civilisation got going... I agree. Some of the toxic memes today stem from the evolutionary development of "us vs. other" that was birthed back when we lived in small, tribal groups. At that time, prejudice and discrimination were adaptive, because protection of one's own tribe was of great importance when grappling over limited resources with other groups. Nowadays, these emotions and approaches have a negative effect. Prejudice and discrimination are most commonly directed at members of one's own group (other citizens of the same city or country). It's very difficult to modify that kind of behavior because it stems from a natural and largely innate source. Anna --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
