What are Emotions?

In my own studies about cognitions, and self awareness I'm coming to the conclusion that emotions are responses to cognitive biases. I've talked a lot about what are cognitive biases and will assume the readers would know what it is (just highlight the words, right click and wiki or google).

Looking at evolution and learning, neurological responses like emotions are programed into behavioral context that support a primitive survival strategy. Anger, Disgust, Happiness, Satisfaction, Arousal, etc... all such emotions a result of an evolutionary program to promote survival behavior and discourage detrimental behavior.

As we all grow up, there are nuances that create a unique behavioral fingerprint about who we are. Time, environment, chance, genetic disposition, and values (personal and social) shape cognition and emotion.

Our pleasures and our greatest sources of happiness can be argued irrationally, so can the same be said with of our sorrows and disappointments. Oversimplifying it, I am saying that emotions are triggered by the cognitive biases we have been uniquely conditioned for.

Awareness of our cognitive biases and mastery makes us more rational and in control of what innately cannot be controlled. As much as we are all victims of our own negative personality traits, we can be our greatest source of unnecessary pain and suffering.


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