In the well known and loved classic of our childhood Star Trek, there is a character known for his solid reasoning devoid of emotion. While for some, having these often difficult and contrasting feelings out of the way may seem like the way to go, in reality emotions are a necessary part of your everyday life. Chapter 11 explores emotions and the causes and effects of them.
Everyone has emotions and in fact, there are some referred to as 'primary emotions' that are universal across the world. Facial emotions are the most easily recognizable from culture to culture but there are other methods of expression as well. For example, body language and non-verbal clues such as those used in texting are especially common and easy to read. For a fun test of your ability of interpreting facial expressions, click here.
(Some examples of non-verbal clues used in texting)
Chapter 11 goes on to cover self-esteem, motivation and attraction. Many myths are called out, some my favorites included these misconceptions: Money makes us happy, happiness declines in old age and opposites attract. Whether it be happiness, love or motivational drives, these emotions and mental states of mind give us advantages our friend Mr. Spock lacked, and we should be thankful for them!
Nice job. Why do you think emotions are necessary? What do they do for us?