Pensamentos Noturnos 9

drawing by marguerita

Emotions are the processes we use to assign value to different possibilities.

 Emotions move us toward things and ideas that produce pleasure and away from things and ideas that produce pain.

People without emotions cannot make sensible decisions because they don’t know how much anything is worth.

 People without social emotions like empathy are not objective decision-makers. 

They are sociopaths who sometimes end up on death row. It’s not whether judges rely on emotion and empathy, it’s how they educate their sentiments within the discipline of manners and morals, tradition and practice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/opinion/29brooks.html?em

Of Emotions, Onions and Dinosaurs

collage by marguerita
Emotions have a collective existence —
they are not just an individual phenomenon.
said Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis

Strangers in the world,little did we know......

drawing by marguerita (not a submitted cover)
Still, Professor Fowler said, “We are not giving you the advice to start smiling at everyone you meet in New York. That would be dangerous.”
“Your happiness depends not just on your choices
and actions, but also on the choices
and actions of people you don’t even know
who are one, two and three degrees removed from you,” said Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis, a physician and social scientist at Harvard Medical School and an author of the study, to be published Friday in BMJ, a British journal. “There’s kind of an emotional quiet riot that occurs and takes on a life of its own, that people themselves may be unaware of.
Emotions have a collective existence — they are not just an individual phenomenon.
Note:Nicholas Christakis, Internist and Social Scientist

Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says - NYTimes.com

Writer(s): kaempfert/singleton/snyder

Strangers in the night exchanging glances
Wondring in the night
What were the chances wed be sharing love
Before the night was through.

Something in your eyes was so inviting,
Something in you smile was so exciting,
Something in my heart,
Told me I must have you.

Strangers in the night, two lonely people
We were strangers in the night
Up to the moment
When we said our first hello.
Little did we know
Love was just a glance away,
A warm embracing dance away and -

Ever since that night we've been together.
Lovers at first sight, in love forever.
It turned out so right,
For strangers in the night.

About the meaning of Existence

collages by marguerita
In The Book of Healing, Avicenna discussed the mind, its existence, the mind and body relationship, sensation, perception, etc. He wrote that at the most common level, the influence of the mind on the body can be seen in voluntary movements, in that the body obeys whenever the mind wishes to move the body.
He further writes that the second level of influence of the mind on the body is from emotions and the will. As an example, he states that if a plank of wood is placed as a bridge over a chasm, a person could hardly creep over it without falling if that person only pictures himself/herself in a possible fall so vividly that the "natural power of limbs accord with it." He also writes that strong negative emotions can have a negative effect on the vegetative functions of an individual and may even lead to death in some cases.

The word "existence" comes from the Latin word 'existere', meaning to appear or emerge or stand out.