On the Physicality of Emotions

Wow, I am truly terrible at this "writing-every-week" thing. I apologize sincerely, but I know that is not enough! After all, I did promise. To make up for it, you shall receive at least five posts within the next two weeks, plus guaranteed once-a-week posting for the next year! Even if it is nothing more than a haiku at 11:59 on Sunday, I will write something every single week. Promise.

       Now, my main topic is something I've been thinking about for a while. Several weeks ago, my human development professor brought up a topic that I found very intriguing. He proposed that emotions are wholly the product of a physical body. Supporting this is the fact that nowhere in scripture does it mention any spirits feeling emotion, except in Job, which might possibly be a fictionalization. He also drew on his many years of work in the fields of psychology and behavioral science, noting how much of our emotions are physiological responses to stimuli - fear and its associates, for example, being a product of the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight or flight response.

       I had to think about this idea for a pretty long time before I had any idea whether or not I agreed with it. It is true, in my own personal experience, that I am rarely happy when sick or in pain, and rarely sad when physically comfortable. But it is also hard to believe that all joy, grief, and awe depend on my body alone. In the end, I decided I don't believe that is the case. My professor, to illustrate his point, challenged anyone in the class to describe "happiness" without using any reference to their body or physical sensations, as if they were explaining it to a robot. No one raised a hand, of course, but I could have. I would have said that happiness is the state of wanting something to continue, based on love. (It would be extremely hard to argue, in my opinion, that love is a physical phenomenon.) Sadness is wishing something could be different than it is. These are simplified definitions, sure, but that's really only because I'm not so good at describing things. I would be just as bad if I could use the physical aspects.

       However, thinking about the idea has changed my mind a bit. Definitely, bodiless emotions would be different, something I'd never really considered before. Fear, I believe, is a purely physical feeling. It is mostly an instinct to get the physical body out of danger; it really serves no spiritual purpose. However, there might be a cousin to fear that is spiritual, you could call it awe or dread or something like that. But it would be different from what we normally think of as fear. Furthermore, emotions are classified into two types: primary and secondary. Primary, or basic, emotions are those present in very young children, and easily expressed on the face: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, etc. Secondary emotions are those such as shame, loneliness, friendliness, satisfaction and other feelings that are "learned" from interactions with other humans. The primary emotions are probably more linked to the body and its processes. How different they might be without it I have no idea (obviously). But it is something interesting to think about.


PS. If there is anyone reading this who doesn't take the existence of spirits or souls as a given (unlikely, considering I'm pretty sure my readership is confined to my immediate family), this post was probably pretty nonsensical. I apologize. Just think of it as a thought exercise.