How Emotions Are Made - Book Summary

Unraveling the mystery: how our brains and culture shape emotions

Often, we imagine our emotions as pre-defined forces that burst forth, entirely formed and distinct. Picture the popular Pixar movie "Inside Out", where emotions are animated characters dictating a young girl's actions through their vivid personalities. This film representation is a simple illustration of how most of us typically perceive our feelings—as powerful, independent entities residing within us.

However, this common conception misses the mark. Emotions are not innate, isolated phenomena but are instead intricate constructs shaped by our brains and societal influences. This narrative will take you through an enlightening exploration of the true nature of emotions, challenging long-standing myths and revealing the sophisticated processes behind them.

Through this journey, you'll discover the outdated and likely incorrect traditional view of emotions, understand why significant technological investments into emotion-recognition systems may be futile, and explore how different cultures, like the Tahitians, perceive emotions in unique ways that differ significantly from western perspectives.

Exploring the classical view: Emotions as innate reactions within our brains

Controlling emotions feels nearly impossible at times, doesn't it? Many believe that emotions are like reflexes—hardwired and unmanageable aspects of our existence. This idea, known as the classical view of emotions, suggests that our feelings are deeply rooted in our biology, handed down through evolution, and lie beyond our conscious control.

This perspective, which has been endorsed across centuries by influential figures like Aristotle, Buddha, Darwin, Descartes, Freud, and modern thinkers such as Steven Pinker, Paul Ekman, and the Dalai Lama, paint emotions as innate, universal phenomena. According to this viewpoint, shared in many psychology textbooks and media discussions, emotions automatically arise from specific areas in our brain.

The theory of essentialism, often linked with the classical view, posits that there exists a core set of emotions common to all humans. Each emotion supposedly has a unique "essence" and is expressed uniformly across different people, who can naturally recognize these emotions in others. In this framework, the brain is imagined as pre-programmed with specific neurons for each distinct emotion. Activation of these neurons then leads to recognizable physical responses or "fingerprints" of these emotions.

For instance, when an annoying colleague irritates you, your "anger neurons" may fire up, causing physiological reactions like a racing heartbeat and a furrowed brow. Similarly, the loss of a friend could activate "sadness neurons", possibly leading to tears and a downtrodden expression. This classical view maintains that our emotional responses are mostly automatic, carved deeply into the architecture of our brains.

Debunking myths: The shifting scientific landscape of understanding emotions

Have you ever thought about whether your facial expressions always align with your emotions? It's not uncommon for someone to mask their true feelings or display contradictory emotional signals. This variability in emotional expression is one of the key factors countering the long-held classical view of emotions.

The classical approach assumed a standard physical manifestation for each emotion—like a universally common "sad face" for sadness or an "angry face" for anger. However, contemporary research shows a dramatically different picture, revealing a much richer emotional vocabulary that cannot be pinpointed to specific facial expressions or brain regions.

Findings from the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory, led by prominent researchers, have critically challenged the traditional notions. By analyzing brain images from studies conducted between 1990 and 2011, scientists broke down the brain into minuscule virtual blocks, similar to three-dimensional pixels, to meticulously track brain activity associated with various emotions like fear, happiness, and anger.

Contrary to expectations, these studies revealed that regions supposedly dedicated to specific emotions were active during completely non-emotional thoughts as well. This suggests that no part of the brain is exclusively devoted to any single emotion—undermining the classical view's "fingerprint" theory, which proposed unique physical signatures for each emotion.

Amidst these revelations, substantial amounts of money continue to be funneled into research based on outdated models. For instance, the science and technology sectors invest heavily in tools designed to decipher emotions from physical cues like facial movements or brain waves—a pursuit that increasingly seems futile.

A notable example of misdirected funds was the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) SPOT program (Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques) launched in 2007. This initiative aimed to detect potential threats based on passengers' facial and body movements, yet it failed to deliver reliable results and ended up costing American taxpayers $900 million.

These examples and scientific findings powerfully illustrate why the classical view of emotions is being questioned and why continuing down this research path might be an unprofitable endeavor.

Reimagining emotions: Constructed responses shaped by personal experiences

It might be hard to shift your perspective on emotions from natural, automatic reactions to something altogether different, yet that is exactly the shift the author advocates. Disregarding the classical view, the author embraces what is known as the theory of constructed emotion.

This theory posits that emotions are not hardwired responses triggered in isolated parts of the brain but are actively constructed across various brain regions as situations unfold. According to this model, each emotional response an individual experiences is deeply rooted in personal, subjective experiences and shaped by anticipated sensory inputs—be it visual, auditory, or taste.

The brain, in this framework, is continuously making predictions based on incoming sensory information, adjusting those predictions in real-time to best match the situation at hand. In this way, emotions are crafted uniquely each time, guided by prior experiences and current sensory cues.

Take anger, for example. The range of responses to a situation that might trigger anger—from a subtle smirk plotting quiet retaliation to an overt expression like shouting—illustrates the brain’s complex mechanism in selecting the appropriate reaction based on context and past learning.

Each potential reaction involves its own unique neural patterns as well as accompanying physical changes, proving that even within a single emotion, there exists a spectrum of possible expressions. The choice of response is dictated by the brain’s adaptive mechanisms, which assess and choose the best fit based on the specific circumstances.

The author likens this theory to Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory, which disrupted the static notion of 'biological essences’. Just as Darwin revealed that species evolve and adapt rather than adhere to a fixed set of characteristics, emotions, too, are not static or universal. Rather, they are dynamic, varying from person to person and situation to situation.

This theory suggests that emotions are constructed by each individual, sculpted by personal experiences and the environment, much like an architect shapes a building. Emotions, then, are not entities that simply exist within us but are phenomena we create within the context of our lives.

Understanding interoception: The brain's predictive control over emotions

Consider how effortlessly you can drive a car once you've mastered it—shifting gears and operating the clutch almost instinctively. This near-automatic control is not just limited to physical movements but extends to how we manage our internal states and emotions through a process known as interoception.

Interoception is akin to the body's "autopilot" system. It handles everything from hormonal balances to immune responses, ensuring that our body's complex systems operate seamlessly without conscious oversight from us. This continuous monitoring and adjusting is what allows us to function efficiently without being bogged down by the minutiae of bodily processes.

But interoception's role isn't just to keep things running; it also greatly influences how we create and experience emotions. The brain takes the continuous stream of internal and external sensations it receives, processes them through the interoception system, and then uses this data to construct our emotional experiences.

To delve deeper, let’s look at how interoception translates sensations into what we perceive as feelings or emotions. There are two fundamental affective spectrums involved in this process: one spans pleasure to displeasure, and the other covers agitation to calmness. These affects, which are fundamental aspects of our consciousness, continuously influence our state of being, regardless of whether or not we are forming specific thoughts or emotions at any given moment.

For instance, the feeling of sun warmth on your skin or the discomfort of a stomachache are primarily sensory experiences processed through these affective spectrums. While they might evoke strong feelings, they do not constitute complete emotions on their own—they do not inherently make you feel happy or sad.

The fascinating aspect here is that scientists consider these affects as innate responses. From birth, humans can perceive and react to these basic affects, demonstrated when babies express pleasure or displeasure through behaviors like smiling or crying.

Understanding interoception reveals a complex system where emotions are not the direct outcome of external events but are constructed by the brain’s predictive and adaptive mechanisms based on a wide array of bodily and environmental inputs. This insight not only changes how we view our emotional lives but also underscores the intricate connection between body and emotions.

How our interoceptive network manages our body's resources and emotions

Navigating through our body's complex systems, the brain deploys what is known in neuroscience as the interoceptive network. This network amazingly directs and regulates the expenditure of our body’s resources, functioning similarly to a meticulous financial planner managing a budget.

Central to this system are two critical components. The first is the body-budgeting region. Like a skilled accountant, this area assesses past experiences to anticipate the body's needs and allocates resources accordingly. It might rev up your heart rate or boost glucose metabolism in anticipation of physical exertion, such as when you're gearing up to surpass your personal best in a jogging session.

The second key area is the primary interoceptive cortex, which is responsible for the subjective experience of internal sensations—like feeling the thump of your heartbeat.

Together, these regions form an essential feedback loop that fine-tunes your body's budgeting efforts. This budget pertains to how your body allocates essential resources like energy, glucose, and hormones such as cortisol. It’s within this context that your emotions come to life, spurred by the physiological states governed by the body budget.

Consider your everyday activities; whether you're deeply engaged in thought, physically exercising, or simply resting, your body is perpetually at work, consuming resources. You replenish these reserves through eating, hydrating, and resting, or by activities that reduce the rate of expenditure like relaxation or engaging in pleasurable activities like sex.

Even your imagination can dip into this body budget. Imagine your boss walks past your desk at work. Even if she simply walks by and does nothing more, the mere stress of her presence can trigger your interoceptive system to ramp up energy expenditure as a response.

However, managing all these inputs can sometimes overwhelm your body's budget, leading to an affective state of agitation. This often happens when there’s a noticeable deficit of resources. Sensing this imbalance, the brain launches an effort to interpret these signals by generating corresponding emotions. For instance, if you feel highly agitated and alert, you might interpret these signals as fear.

This intricate dance between the interoceptive network and our emotions underscores not just how our bodies react to immediate stimuli but also how they constantly engage in complex predictive and reactive processes to maintain overall well-being and emotional balance.

Cultural constructs and their influence on our understanding of emotions

Picture how you might describe sadness. Intriguingly, in the Tahitian language, there isn't a direct translation for "sadness." Instead, Tahitians refer to a state akin to the lethargy one feels when sick with the flu. This cultural peculiarity highlights a profound insight: our interpretation of emotions is largely shaped by the language and concepts our culture provides.

Consider the seemingly trivial debate between what constitutes a muffin and a cupcake. Chemically and physically, they are nearly identical — both can be sweetened, both contain similar ingredients, and both are often enhanced with items like nuts or fruits. Yet, culturally, one is typically seen as a breakfast item and the other as a dessert. This classification stems not from inherent differences in the foods themselves but from the meanings and functions ascribed to them through cultural consensus.

This idea of "social reality" extends beyond food and into many aspects of life. Take, for instance, paper money. On its own, it's just paper — its value derives solely from the communal agreement on what it's worth, be it twenty Haitian Gourdes, one US dollar, or five hundred UAE dirhams.

In a similar vein, the concepts we have of emotions are also constructed through cultural norms and agreements. Once a concept is culturally accepted and understood, it shapes how we experience those emotions. Smiling as a signal of happiness serves as a prime example. Contrary to what many might think, the association of smiling with happiness is relatively modern. Historical records suggest that in ancient Greece and Rome, smiling was not a culturally significant gesture linked to happiness. It wasn't until the Middle Ages, with improvements in dentistry and changing social mores, that smiling became widely indicative of happiness.

Thus, the way we perceive and express emotions like sadness or happiness is not universal but is heavily influenced by our cultural contexts. Cultural agreements dictate not only the economic value of the paper in our wallets but also the way we understand and express our innermost feelings.

The evolution of emotional understanding: From infancy to adulthood

From the very first cry, the journey of understanding emotions begins. Emotions like sadness, happiness, anger, disappointment, and depression, are not pre-installed feelings, according to the author. They are complex concepts that we begin to learn immediately from birth, influenced heavily by our interactions with parents and society.

But it’s important to clarify—babies do feel, but their raw sensations are what we previously discussed as affects, which are more about primal experiences of displeasure or comfort, rather than structured emotions.

As we grow, our understanding of emotions becomes more nuanced through explicit teaching. Consider a crying baby: a parent might suggest reasons for the discomfort by asking if the baby is angry about nap time or sad because mommy is leaving for work. These interactions embed certain emotional responses to situations, linking specific feelings to behaviors or events.

This learning does not cease with childhood. Our brains are remarkably adept at integrating new experiences with existing knowledge. This ongoing learning process helps us to refine our emotional understanding, which can aid significantly in emotional regulation.

For example, the concept of taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune—a feeling so specific that the English language borrowed the German word “Schadenfreude” to describe it. The more we encounter and use such expressions, the more adept we become at recognizing and even feeling these emotions ourselves.

As adults, we continue to fine-tune our emotional vocabulary. We learn to differentiate between similar feelings, such as distress and discomfort, comprehending that certain pains, like a temporary leg cramp, aren’t as daunting as they seemed in youth.

Thus, emotions are not just experienced; they are built through a lifetime of encounters and understanding. Investing in new experiences contributes to constructing new emotional frameworks, effectively planting the seeds for our future emotional landscapes. By expanding our exposure to various situations and continuously learning, we keep enriching our emotional repertoire, shaping how we interpret and react to the world around us.

Decoding emotions: A comprehensive view of their origins and influences

The fundamental takeaway from this insightful exploration is that emotions are not simply innate reactions wired deeply into our brains from birth. Instead, they are dynamic constructions crafted through an intricate interplay between our cultural environment, cognitive processes, and bodily sensations.

At the core of this concept is the brain's role as both a regulator and creator. It meticulously manages our body’s energy use and needs, while also constructing the emotional experiences we encounter daily. These emotions are far from being straightforward expressions hardcoded into our DNA. Rather, they are nuanced and often personalized interpretations that arise from how our brains process a myriad of internal and external cues.

In essence, what we experience as spontaneous emotional reactions are, in fact, sophisticated creations of our minds, shaped significantly by the cultural contexts we inhabit and our individual histories and experiences. This book sheds light on the profound complexity of emotions, challenging us to rethink our understanding of what emotions are and how they function within our lives.