Neocortex versus amygdala

[Corrie van Wijk]

Corrie: "wouldn't 'personal stuff' be the only relevant criterion in interacting with others?"

F: "It would depend on the nature of the stuff, and the interaction."

What kind of stuff would make it relevant, and what kind of interaction?

C: "Emotions are excellent guides to knowing who to avoid or to approach."

F: "What are your reasons for saying this?"

It seems to me that you favour rational thinking above acting on one's emotions.

C: "If somebody else's behaviour triggers emotions, you are reminded of some experience from which you learned: you project the former situation on the present one until further notice."

F: "sometimes".

At which time does it, at which doesn't it?

F: "when there is less in the way of emotive abreactions maintaining a problem by attempting to defend it, it then becomes easier to elicit the structure of the problem state and do something useful about it.": the structure of emotions is that they are coping reactions. They are not 'in the way' 'to elicit the structure' but deal with it. How do you know any emotion would be 'abreactive'? How do you know emotions don't do anything 'useful'?

[Feralchild]

You seem to be responding to specifics by extrapolating your responses into general principles."
Personal stuff would be more relevant in a discussion of subjective likes and dislikes.
"It seems to me that you favour rational thinking above acting on one's emotions"
You are not justifying your own assertion,rational thinking would include factoring in emotion,rather than simply indulging it.
"At which time does it,at which doesn't it?"
The principles at work can be abstracted and employed,rather than an autobiographical assessment.
"the structure of emotions is that they are coping reactions" Emotions are primarily reactive in nature,and often abreactive,this is not to say that they serve no useful function.
Why do you assert that emotions are there to deal with the structure?
Emotions are often abreactive by eliciting a defensive response,rather than allowing reality to be engaged with.

[Corrie van Wijk]

And when "indulging [...] reactive [...] abreactive [...] defensive" what happens to "reality"?


F: "Why do you assert that ['the structure of emotions is that they are coping reactions. They are not] 'in the way' 'to elicit the structure' [but deal with it.']?

Emotions are the organism's 'clean answer' to any situation. They are based on previous experiences. The best way to learn new reactions is to get new experiences that are different from the one's before.

[Feralchild]

You still aren't really answering the question;how could an unpleasant emotional response be defined as a coping strategy?

[Corrie van Wijk]

It may only be 'unpleasant' from your point of view.

[Corrie van Wijk]

And when (F): "... our present educational system" would not do "virtually nothing to develop reasoning ability", then what happens?