Understanding Emotions

Ever thought about why you feel the way you do? Today we talk about our whole mess of feelings, expressions, language, and how our brains work. We hope you enjoy and make sure to share it with your friends if you enjoy it!

What are emotions?

Emotions can be tricky to define because people argue about what exactly they are. It's kind of like when your mind and body experience changes and some things physically happen, such as your heart speeding up when you get scared. But the catch is, it doesn't happen the same way for everyone.

For example, when you feel different emotions, your face might show it by making different expressions. But here's the thing: just because your face moves doesn't mean you're expressing an emotion. Your brain sort of looks at these facial movements like symbols and figures out what emotion might be happening based on the situation.

Also, there's a back-and-forth between your face and your brain. They talk to each other, but it's not as simple as saying, "If I feel this, my face will look like that." It's more like a bunch of clues that your brain has to put together to understand what you're feeling. So, emotions and expressions are kind of like a puzzle that your brain solves based on what's going on around you.

Facial expressions and emotions

A long time ago, a guy Darwin said emotions and facial expressions are connected and have been around forever because of evolution. But turns out, not everyone agrees. There's no proof that facial expressions for feelings are the same everywhere.

Like, if you're mad, it's not just a grumpy face; you could smile or cry too. Emotions are also not just one thing – they're like a mix of many things happening in your head.

When you're born, you look at things in a certain way, but your brain needs to learn more as you grow up. It's not just about genes; your brain has to understand the world around you.

Here's the tricky part: we like to think we can understand people just by looking at their faces. It's a big deal in our legal system, where decisions affecting people's lives are made based on what we think someone's expression means. But the thing is, we're not always great at reading faces, especially since feelings are different for everyone. Most of the time, we don't even know exactly how we feel, let alone how someone else does.

Languages in emotions:

Here's the deal with language and emotions. Words alone can't always capture everything we feel. Our brains use past experiences to figure out what's going on, and words are just sounds.

And get this – different languages and places have their unique ways of talking about feelings. What's considered normal can change depending on where you are and who you're talking to.

Now, in the science world, they start with an experience and then try to find where it happens in the brain and body. But not everyone in the world has the same emotions or experiences, so it gets a bit tricky.

Think about it like this: when someone says "pizza," you get a general idea of what they mean, even though not all pizzas are the same. It's kind of like that with words for feelings – they point to similar features.

But now, with social media and emojis, we're sort of training ourselves to simplify complex feelings into categories. We want quick and easy answers, but sometimes that means losing a lot of info about what we're feeling.

The brain and emotion:

Your brain is also like a super detective, always trying to figure out what's going on. It's not just reacting to stuff; it's creating a model of your body and understanding the world based on what's happening around you and what happened before.

But here's the thing: your brain doesn't have all the info. It knows your body well and takes guesses based on what's going on now and what it learned before.

Imagine your brain making folders of possible things and outcomes to make sense of the world and avoid being stressed out by everything being new.

Now, there are these neurotransmitter things people talk about, like serotonin. It's not a happiness button; it helps your body work well. And cortisol, which shows up when you're stressed, isn't just a stress hormone – it has other jobs too.

When your brain gets info from the world, it's like translating it into a secret code. And as it processes the info, it summarizes things, putting feelings into folders. So when you say "anger" or any feeling, it's not one-size-fits-all; it's more like a summary of lots of different experiences. And, guess what, your brain gets ready for action based on these summaries. We all see and feel the world a bit differently!

Theories:

There are two different ideas about handling emotions. One is to just let yourself feel them, and the other is to use words or actions to change how you feel and steer yourself toward what you want.

Here's a cool trick: you can change how you experience things by shifting your focus. Being flexible with your thoughts and feelings is a big deal.

Think of your brain as the referee and your body as the scoreboard. You don't feel things in your brain; it's more in your body. Feeling and emotion aren't the same – when you create an emotion, you're giving meaning to your feelings.

Your brain and body are like texting buddies, always sending signals back and forth. And sometimes, it's okay to make yourself a bit uncomfortable to teach your brain that things can change over time.

Oh, and too much uncertainty can make you super alert and anxious. It's like your brain is on high alert because things are so up in the air.