Expressing Emotions

What is art? What is beauty?

Moderators: AMod, iMod

I Like Sushu
Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:03 am

Expressing Emotions

Post by I Like Sushu »

What comes more natural to the human heart the desire to express “positive” thoughts of joy, hope optimism and love, or the desire to express “negative” thoughts of pain, suffering, hate, rage and pessimism?

My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.

Also, what are your thoughts about “Cartharsis” in respect to Aristotle and the various interpretations of this term (not particularly interested in dictionary definitions as this has remained a contentious issue among scholars for quite some time!)
odysseus
Posts: 306
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:30 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by odysseus »

I Like Sushu
What comes more natural to the human heart the desire to express “positive” thoughts of joy, hope optimism and love, or the desire to express “negative” thoughts of pain, suffering, hate, rage and pessimism?

My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.

Also, what are your thoughts about “Cartharsis” in respect to Aristotle and the various interpretations of this term (not particularly interested in dictionary definitions as this has remained a contentious issue among scholars for quite some time!)
Better to limit entanglements and keep a steady eye on being independent emotionally. Not like the Stoics or the Epicureans; more like the Buddhists: above it all, yet deeply committed the nameless joy of Being here.
User avatar
Sculptor
Posts: 8477
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 11:32 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Sculptor »

I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am
My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.
Where do you live?
Or more to the point, how do you live with regard to social interaction?
Walker
Posts: 14245
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Walker »

We get on the subway and the junkie up there is having a bad morning. Needs a fix, acting like ants in his pants, on his arms, in his hair. We change cars, within minutes he follows. Okay. A circling shark. Now he’s at the other end of the car eyeballing us, loud mutters in harsh tones, a whack or two to his own dirty doo, working up to something. Quick and jerky, sometimes a shout. Yep. Pretty obvious. A great big old black man set to ride backwards turns to look at him, then turns and looks at us, facing us from his chair, still holding his paper but not reading, staring right at us and I can practically hear him thinking … this should be interesting. We stand out. We look different like, what are you doing here fools, and I’m thinking back, we are free humans and we go where we please. I’m thinking, I’d sure hate to crack that junkie over the head, it just won’t go well for all concerned. Imaginative pre-play: collar bone crush, hook the weight-bearing ankle with the J-hook, quick step back, down he goes and no yanking required. Then, a change and it’s out of our hands. The train stops, the doors open, a sea of humanity pours in. Hundreds of uniformed British teenagers filling every train car. Nothing but laughter, bright faces, chatter, energy. The car is packed, standing room is shoulder-to-shoulder. I chat up the nearest tall boy, rosy cheeks that have never felt a razor either vertical or horizontal. Lovely musical accents all around and we can’t help but smile and laugh too, for our own reasons. They’re part of the WSJ* as it says on their kerchiefs under the Union Jack, they’re on their North American excursion, he tells me their itinerary and I think, such privileged youth these boys and girls who at this moment, are actually washing away the darkness with sheer presence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhrg6SH9yvE



* https://www.scout.org/jamboree
zoey
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:06 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by zoey »

Sometimes extreme joy and sorrow just burst through. The stoic can hold it in, but occasionally it bursts through the cracks. :)
I Like Sushu
Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:03 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by I Like Sushu »

Sculptor wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:30 pm
I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am
My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.
Where do you live?
Or more to the point, how do you live with regard to social interaction?
Irrelevant. Sensationalism dictates that bad news rules. We’re not fed feel good stories because the market shows us such things don’t sell.
User avatar
Sculptor
Posts: 8477
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 11:32 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Sculptor »

I Like Sushu wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:56 pm
Sculptor wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:30 pm
I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am
My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.
Where do you live?
Or more to the point, how do you live with regard to social interaction?
Irrelevant. Sensationalism dictates that bad news rules. We’re not fed feel good stories because the market shows us such things don’t sell.
FFS. How can your experience of people generally be irrelevant to a thread of discussion which is all about your experience of people's general disposition to negativity.
PLONK!
I Like Sushu
Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:03 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by I Like Sushu »

Sculptor wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 3:56 pm
I Like Sushu wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:56 pm
Sculptor wrote: Wed Jul 31, 2019 10:30 pm

Where do you live?
Or more to the point, how do you live with regard to social interaction?
Irrelevant. Sensationalism dictates that bad news rules. We’re not fed feel good stories because the market shows us such things don’t sell.
FFS. How can your experience of people generally be irrelevant to a thread of discussion which is all about your experience of people's general disposition to negativity.
PLONK!
Answer the OP then FFS! :D

Where I live and my social life is none of your fucking business - it is IRRELEVANT to the question posed. As it seems you are to me.
User avatar
Sculptor
Posts: 8477
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 11:32 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Sculptor »

I Like Sushu wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 5:48 pm
Sculptor wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 3:56 pm
I Like Sushu wrote: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:56 pm

Irrelevant. Sensationalism dictates that bad news rules. We’re not fed feel good stories because the market shows us such things don’t sell.
FFS. How can your experience of people generally be irrelevant to a thread of discussion which is all about your experience of people's general disposition to negativity.
PLONK!
Answer the OP then FFS! :D

Where I live and my social life is none of your fucking business - it is IRRELEVANT to the question posed. As it seems you are to me.
LOL
Well, well, well. I suppose some people just see negativity wherever they go.
Never mind - look on the bright side, as least you like Sushi. Just don't die of the dangers of Sushi; Listeria, salmonella, and tapeworms ..
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

'News' tends to be bad by default. Good news would be that they have discovered how to reverse global warming. Good news would be that a cure for cancer has been found. There aren't many things that would qualify as 'good news' that are big enough to capture people's interest en masse. Hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, 'danger from a distance', are what interest humans. How would reporters even find 'good news'? And one man's 'good news' might be another man's 'bad news'.
mrgrtt123
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2019 7:57 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by mrgrtt123 »

I feel like people do share their bad experiences to gain sympathy. A friend of mine always post her pet memory plaques and as usual, a lot of her friends on social media tries to comfort her.
Last edited by mrgrtt123 on Wed Sep 04, 2019 8:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
Dubious
Posts: 3987
Joined: Tue May 19, 2015 7:40 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Dubious »

I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am What comes more natural to the human heart the desire to express “positive” thoughts of joy, hope optimism and love, or the desire to express “negative” thoughts of pain, suffering, hate, rage and pessimism?

My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.
The answer to that should be obvious. For one thing negative thoughts, as with pain, are far more intense than thoughts of pleasure and well-being. Schopenhauer already understood that long ago. The lows go lower than the highs go high. Second, there's less and less to feel positive about. If you want to give yourself more "buoyancy" turn off the news because most of what's reported only serves to enrage and demoralize.
popeye1945
Posts: 2119
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:12 am

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by popeye1945 »

When a person is forced/perceived or otherwise, into a routine that is thought to be a necessity, like most people's workaday world it wears the individual down. Few people make their living doing something they love to do, the bulk of humanity sells their life for money. Humans are social creatures and the societal context in which they live is made up of these same people whose vitality has been sapped living inauthentic lives. Once you get a generation of this, something like a conspiracy sets in, and it says the world, and life in the world is humdrum a passionless existence. Everybody seems to the individual to be in the same boat, so complaining is somewhat futile, suck it up and get on with it. This is where that saying comes in, I don't remember the source, "All men live lives of quite desperation." In such lives, the expression of honest emotions is not encouraged and if it were it would be mostly of sorrow or regret. A man of constant sorrow-----lol!! It seems to me the things which give the most nourishment providing the most vitality mainly because of the constancy of the needs, is excellent enjoyable food and relationships if one has the joys and satisfaction of these he can consider himself a rich man. It is often said context defines, this is key to the civilized man's emotional life. It is from moment to moment that context creates and re-creates the individual's chemistry of emotion, the emotions in such lives are often subdued to such a degree that people would need to be intentionally taught how to express themselves emotionally. Also one must consider the emotional foundation one inherits from one's parents and family, which can be good or bad but probably is unrealized on a conscious level. I don't know if this is quite what is called for here, but perhaps it's a little grist for the mill.
Last edited by popeye1945 on Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Veganman
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:17 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by Veganman »

I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am What comes more natural to the human heart the desire to express “positive” thoughts of joy, hope optimism and love, or the desire to express “negative” thoughts of pain, suffering, hate, rage and pessimism?

My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.

Also, what are your thoughts about “Cartharsis” in respect to Aristotle and the various interpretations of this term (not particularly interested in dictionary definitions as this has remained a contentious issue among scholars for quite some time!)
Pity and fear expressed by an audience watching say, Oedipus. In this respect, any emotion expressed by watching others could be interpreted as cathartic, even sexual emotions, such as arousal and the release of this emotion?
User avatar
bahman
Posts: 8791
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2016 3:52 pm

Re: Expressing Emotions

Post by bahman »

I Like Sushu wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:57 am What comes more natural to the human heart the desire to express “positive” thoughts of joy, hope optimism and love, or the desire to express “negative” thoughts of pain, suffering, hate, rage and pessimism?

My view is that people generally have a natural disposition to express more “negative” thoughts and feelings than they do more “positive” thoughts and feelings.

Also, what are your thoughts about “Cartharsis” in respect to Aristotle and the various interpretations of this term (not particularly interested in dictionary definitions as this has remained a contentious issue among scholars for quite some time!)
I am neutral when it comes to feelings whether positive or negative. I accept people as they are. I am in peace.
Post Reply