Towards Entelechy

We've got nothing to fear...but fear itself
Not pain, not failure, not fatal tragedy
Not the faulty units in this mad machinery
Not the broken contacts in emotional chemistry

And the things that we fear are a weapon to be held against us...

He's not afraid of your judgment
He knows of horrors worse than your Hell
He's a little bit afraid of dying
But he's a lot more afraid of your lying

And the things that he fears are a weapon to be held against him...

Like a steely blade in a silken sheath
We don't see what they're made of
They shout about love, but when push comes to shove
They live for the things they're afraid of

And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...

(Neil Peart; Rush; excerpts from "The Weapon")

Remember sometimes when everything seems wrong, sometimes it is. There’s nothing wrong with feeling disgusted or unhappy about deleterious behavior when it inevitably crosses your path. The way out of getting drawn into it is to be appreciative of your own intelligence and freedom from stupidity. When you are well, be glad! : ) MJN

 The Most Important Bits to Remember 

Networks are kept wired by practice (use). The helpful or harmful nature of that use is irrelevant to an unconscious system.

We prioritise our attention to focus on items that are interesting, either because they are potentially beneficial to us or (equally important for survival) because they may be harmful. Emotion (and sentiment) always capture our attention as 'important'.

Healthy emotions help us to get in the right mood for whatever behavior may be required, and our basic behaviors (and hence emotions) are relatively simple. For example, the emotion of amity (friendliness) is appropriate to the behavior of empathy (we like it, we want to be closer to it) and the emotion of antipathy (offense or defensiveness) is appropriate to the behavior of defending ourselves (we don't like it, it's harmful, we want to get rid of it.)

Physical sensations associated with chemical changes and the concepts assumed to accompany them are the basis of emotion. Sensory overload is painful, sensory deprivation boring, and we are motivated to move away from both and towards benefits. Anticipation of our needs fulfilled is exciting, and having them fulfilled is satisfying, and we are motivated to move towards.

Animals’ experiences living in groups demands (and benefits from) more complex communication of ideas than simple drives and instincts. Emotion forms a part of communication –particularly unconscious communication- and can be conveyed by body language, gestures, tone of voice and pheromones as well as in words and noises.

The advantage of being able to communicate emotional experience through facial expression and body language enables us to act out memories, communicating dangers before we even have language. All emotions are associated with different sounds that we make when having them, which may well be the basis of language.

Emotion enables strong empathy, multi-format communication and lasting alliances; big advantages for any creature whose young take a long time to develop and who lives in interactive groups that face collective as well as individual problems. Mentally emotion can both motivate and inspire not just exploration and learning, but higher functions like design and creativity and judgement.

Emotion is tied intimately to the performance of our immune system, our self esteem and our physical and mental health.

All your memories are modulated by emotion, and the very act of remembering long-term is facilitated by it. Without emotion, there would be no intelligence because there would be no long term memory. Emotion triggers the release of the hormones and neurotransmitters we need to make memories permanent.

Motivation is essential for all behaviors. In automatic systems, motivation is provided by unconscious automation. In autonomous systems, emotion is needed to provide motivation for consciously directed behaviors.

The best way to avoid sentiment is to practise healthy emotion.

In understanding the unconscious, remember that basics are more important than details; contexts are more important than agents, processes are more important than data, in other words, the universe is more important (and more than) its material contents or its forces, but emergent from interaction between the two. The programs underlying ALL behavior are the important things to grasp.

Control neurotransmission (chemistry) and you modulate emotion and behavior.

Control behavior and you modulate neurotransmission and emotion.

Control emotion and you modulate neurotransmission and behavior.

...Do humans have free will? ...Only if they choose to make it so.