Please use this thread for discussing Ch. 4: The Classification of Mental States.
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Did you think that Burton cleared the matter up in the chapter? He seems to have a respect for what is not known, and this makes him present his conclusions tentatively, which I actually appreciate.JulianTheApostate wrote: After all, we've previously questioned exactly what Burton meant by feeling of knowing.
I once read that all emotions have the same biological response. In other words, if you just looked at the set of physiological response you could not distinguish one emotion from the other. I wonder if what are called secondary emotions aren't just primary emotions paired with learned or culturally defined thoughts/ideas (not quite sure of what language to use). If you think of fear as a lack of safety I think it begins to make my idea make some sense or maybe I'm reaching. Let's test my idea on arrogance. Arrogance is self protective; a fear that we are not good enough or are lacking in someway.DWill wrote: He does make a good case, I think, for this feeling of knowing being in fact a sensation: "Sensation strikes closer to the neurophysiological truth of a relatively discrete output from localized neural structures..." (38).
He tells us that by stimulating the brain, we can only produce certain feelings or emotions, the ones considered primary. So we won't find a patient expressing shame or arrogance during this kind of procedure. Conviction, though, he seems to say can be produced. This would classify it, or at least its primary component, as a primary emotion. Don't know about that.
DWill
Interesting point about building-block theory of emotions. Of course, I find it difficult to relate to the example of arrogance, having so little experience with itSaffron wrote: Let's test my idea on arrogance. Arrogance is self protective; a fear that we are not good enough or are lacking in someway.
This is a potential problem in reducing how we act to brain function. Will the explanation be too simplified? I can't recall if Burton fiils in the gap you talk about. I think he does speak about us calling up relevant information in the instant during which we must decide to take action. For instance, if we have to decide whether to jump in a river to avoid a hungry tiger or climb a tree, our past experience will certainly matter, but also someone else's experience can be a factor in our instantaneous decision. Still, situations are often uncertain, so we have that developed that little "goose" of the feeling of knowing to get us off the dime. So maybe our feeling is always the same type of feeling, but just as you say, the information we use to arrive at our "certainty" will not stay the same, more than likely. Let us know if Burton does seem to slight the role of learning.Saffron wrote:As I was finishing chapter 4 a thought occurred to me that an important aspect of his explanation for the feeling of knowing is missing and maybe Burton will get to this in a later chapter. Here's my thought - If the feeling of knowing evolved to help us take action, then the feeling must have been correct more than 50% of the time.... Other information must play into the arousing of the sensation or feeling of knowing.