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Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

businessinsider.com

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Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#61

Post by avindroth »

unabst wrote: post #60

> pay close attention to those negative emotions, because they're usually trying to tell you something No. They're always trying to tell you something. That's all emotions are. And they've already spoken, so arguing with them is futile. They're telling your brain how you feel so you can act intelligently on them, not so you can turn around and argue with yourself in the mirror. There are no negative emotions. They're…

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time.

Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression.

This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit.

And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#62

Post by avindroth »

kunle_e wrote: post #8

This reminds me of how forgetful we are as a species. The stuff in this article was figured out thousands of years ago and now is being presented almost as if it's something new. It also reminds me that for all of our technological prowess, we still haven't mastered the no-tech fundamentals of dealing with life as human beings.

Our biological OS is not built for dealing with time.

1. We suck with memory. We re-write memory every time we recall.

2. We suck with delayed gratification. No other animal had to invest. We haven't evolved past that.

3. We suck with time estimates. The engineering trope of "3x the amount of time you think the project would take" illustrates this point. There is something in Pragmatic Programmer, too.

That is why we need calendars, planners, and timers. People who rely on their conception of time are ignoring the limits of their underlying OS.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#63

Post by ethbro »

avindroth wrote: post #61
unabst wrote: post #60

> pay close attention to those negative emotions, because they're usually trying to tell you something No. They're always trying to tell you something. That's all emotions are. And they've already spoken, so arguing with them is futile. They're telling your brain how you feel so you can act intelligently on them, not so you can turn around and argue with yourself in the mirror. There are no negative emotions. They're…

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time. Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression. This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit. And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

If we didn't ignore the fact that we have biases, at least part of the time, wouldn't we be far less productive?

I've seen people who reflect daily on whether their breakfast egg is cage free and what that means for us as an ethically omnivorous species and our corporate agribusiness food economy... and by the time they're done it's dinner. I have better things to do with my day than think logically about everything all the time.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#64

Post by greendestiny_re »

Mathematically speaking, happiness is equal to reality expresssed as a number divided by expectations:

H = R/E

The higher the expectations, the lower the happiness. This also means that:

lim(E->inf) = inf

The conclusion is inescapable yet profound - expect nothing and you'll be blissfully happy.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#65

Post by plurinshael »

avindroth wrote: post #61
unabst wrote: post #60

> pay close attention to those negative emotions, because they're usually trying to tell you something No. They're always trying to tell you something. That's all emotions are. And they've already spoken, so arguing with them is futile. They're telling your brain how you feel so you can act intelligently on them, not so you can turn around and argue with yourself in the mirror. There are no negative emotions. They're…

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time. Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression. This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit. And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

No. The projection of an emotional object onto a logical construction has the capacity for being "wrong" or "right". Emotions are a different, more distributed form of logic and one should not construe homomorphisms across the two.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#66

Post by rquantz »

greendestiny_re wrote: post #64

Mathematically speaking, happiness is equal to reality expresssed as a number divided by expectations: H = R/E The higher the expectations, the lower the happiness. This also means that: lim(E->inf) = inf The conclusion is inescapable yet profound - expect nothing and you'll be blissfully happy.

Oh you read that article too? There are ways of thinking about happiness that still allow for striving. Also, unhappiness is not only caused by entitlement.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#67

Post by unabst »

plurinshael wrote: post #65
avindroth wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time. Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression. This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit. And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

No. The projection of an emotional object onto a logical construction has the capacity for being "wrong" or "right". Emotions are a different, more distributed form of logic and one should not construe homomorphisms across the two.

This is correct.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#68

Post by unabst »

ethbro wrote: post #63
avindroth wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time. Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression. This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit. And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

If we didn't ignore the fact that we have biases, at least part of the time, wouldn't we be far less productive? I've seen people who reflect daily on whether their breakfast egg is cage free and what that means for us as an ethically omnivorous species and our corporate agribusiness food economy... and by the time they're done it's dinner. I have better things to do with my day than think logically about everything…

There is no need to ignore anything. Emotional bias is precisely why we have brains to balance them. If you can recognize you have bias you're all set. And lo and behold, next time you won't get as angry in the same situation, etc.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#69

Post by unabst »

avindroth wrote: post #61
unabst wrote: post #60

> pay close attention to those negative emotions, because they're usually trying to tell you something No. They're always trying to tell you something. That's all emotions are. And they've already spoken, so arguing with them is futile. They're telling your brain how you feel so you can act intelligently on them, not so you can turn around and argue with yourself in the mirror. There are no negative emotions. They're…

Our emotions don't tell us shit. They are straight-up wrong, half the time. Our biological OS is not constructed for the current world. That is why, even when everything is going right, we have intermittent moments of anxiety and depression. This is chronic. The moment you ignore our biases, you fall into some deep shit. And you can never get out; you can't see your own biases.

> even when everything is going right

How do you know this if you're having "intermittent moments of anxiety and depression"? It's none of my business, but you sound troubled.

Emotions being broken is a different issue, but the article was about "normal" people.

Emotions are a physical reaction to your circumstances. You don't have to react to your emotions, but to second guess how you feel without second guessing your physical circumstances is the chronic modern illness that get's you into deep shit.

> ignore our biases

You don't ignore them. You adjust for them.

"Oh, I didn't have to be angry. Sorry about that! I lost my cool for a second."

That's what our brains are for.

Re: Stop the inner struggle over whether your thoughts and feelings are “right”

#70

Post by frozenport »

kunle_e wrote: post #8

This reminds me of how forgetful we are as a species. The stuff in this article was figured out thousands of years ago and now is being presented almost as if it's something new. It also reminds me that for all of our technological prowess, we still haven't mastered the no-tech fundamentals of dealing with life as human beings.

The Egyptians spent thousands of years building pyramids, yet in a few thousand our society built the internet. There is no glory in complacency.
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