Oddly, I think the exaggerated emotional displays common in animation have made me more aware as an autistic person how to express my own and recognize their use by others. I understand that they are being played for laughs, but comedy is as much derived from real life as any other fiction genre, and the root emotion is still visible, if less openly displayed, in real life.
One interesting thing I didn’t really write about is how to convey your emotions (or just your ideas) to others. That’s a really interesting rabbit hole I’d like to explore some time. Thanks for chiming in with this, David.
Great post, Andrew! I recently read this new theory on emotion, which doesn’t separate emotions from rationality, arguing that emotions are physical sensations related to a specific goal. For example, anger to rectify a perceived injustice, happiness to live a fulfilling life. Greater specificity in emotional language - brotherly love, schadenfreude, camaraderie in a team struggle - are a form of emotional intelligence that helps us act more appropriately towards a goal and understanding why we’re feeling what what feeling. It’s a new theory of course, that’s different from the classical view of emotions and I don’t agree with all of it, but was quite insightful. https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/how-emotions-are-made/
That’s fantastic. I am not 100% sold on any one interpretation, and honestly? I think that’s the right take. Emotions clearly know some things our brains don’t, and our guts even have some form of their own nervous system. Now I’m not saying this “second brain” thinks like our “first brain” does, but I’m also not saying it’s completely unrelated to thinking and all that. This isn’t me diving down conspiracy theory rabbit holes or grasping at straws, but instead recognizing the limits to our own understanding at the moment. Keep thinking with me!
Oddly, I think the exaggerated emotional displays common in animation have made me more aware as an autistic person how to express my own and recognize their use by others. I understand that they are being played for laughs, but comedy is as much derived from real life as any other fiction genre, and the root emotion is still visible, if less openly displayed, in real life.
One interesting thing I didn’t really write about is how to convey your emotions (or just your ideas) to others. That’s a really interesting rabbit hole I’d like to explore some time. Thanks for chiming in with this, David.
Everytime I see an Eddie Murphy gif here I want to watch The Golden Child
I think the GIF is Kayode Ewumi, though you should definitely watch this scene in the Golden Child with me now:
https://youtu.be/lMSasuTSDfs
Great post, Andrew! I recently read this new theory on emotion, which doesn’t separate emotions from rationality, arguing that emotions are physical sensations related to a specific goal. For example, anger to rectify a perceived injustice, happiness to live a fulfilling life. Greater specificity in emotional language - brotherly love, schadenfreude, camaraderie in a team struggle - are a form of emotional intelligence that helps us act more appropriately towards a goal and understanding why we’re feeling what what feeling. It’s a new theory of course, that’s different from the classical view of emotions and I don’t agree with all of it, but was quite insightful. https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/how-emotions-are-made/
That’s fantastic. I am not 100% sold on any one interpretation, and honestly? I think that’s the right take. Emotions clearly know some things our brains don’t, and our guts even have some form of their own nervous system. Now I’m not saying this “second brain” thinks like our “first brain” does, but I’m also not saying it’s completely unrelated to thinking and all that. This isn’t me diving down conspiracy theory rabbit holes or grasping at straws, but instead recognizing the limits to our own understanding at the moment. Keep thinking with me!