Emotions ... a man's worst enemy?

A while ago I heard somewhere that emotions are a man's worst enemy. Then, I thought perhaps is right, emotions weaken us, and when we actually let them to take over us, most of the time, the results are not as good as if we were thinking with a cool head. When was the last time you lost it, blowing out at someone? It would not be easier if we did not have them (emotions)? Have you ever wished not been able to feel anything, in order to avoid suffering? Can we actually get rid of our emotions?

Well, I found the right answers to my questions reading Goleman in [ref]. Apparently, there is a small part in our brains where all emotions sits, this part is the amygdala. It is because of this small tiny little thing that our emotional brain takes over our thinking brain, such a take over is called emotional hijacking by Goleman. An actually it is a hijacking. Let me explain further in the following lines.

Goleman defines emotional hijackings as "neural takeovers". A hijack occurs in an instant, and it is triggered before our thinking brains can have the chance to glimpse fully what is happening, let alone decide whether is a good idea or not. Hijacks are isolated horrific incidents that can lead even to brutal crimes. We all suffer from this in a more or less intense manner, and who is responsible? The amygdala.

"The amygdala can house memories and response repertoires that we enact without quite realizing so because the shortcut from the thalamus to the amygdala, which completely bypasses the neocortex"

... aha!! ... so in simple words, we are wired in a way that our amygdala (emotional brain) has an easy way to get through and acts way much faster than our thinking brain does. OK so we are wired to be hijacked by our emotional brain ... but what for? A good reason there must be, isn't it?

Well, yes there is a good reason for it. The amygdala is the counterpart of the hypocampus, both are a kind of memory, one is emotional and the other one is not, keeping only the dry facts of certain situation. Both are very important for us, in order to avoid non-desired-past experiences. For example, if we once had tried to pass a car narrowly on a two lane highway and had head-on collision, the hipocampus retains the specifics of the incident, such as in which section of the road the incident took place, who was with us, and how the other car looked like. But it is the amygdala that "ever after" will send a SURGE of ANXIETY through us whenever we try to pass a car in similar circumstances, and then perhaps we could drive more cautiously.

(OMG!! ever after!!! )

Another good example is the following. Have you ever experience a leap from the bed while half asleep? Some people have and actually that leap have saved them from actually falling and injury. In this case, it was also the amygdala bypassing the thinking brain. The amygdala PROPEL US to ACTION in emergencies, vital moments before our thinking brain fully register what is going on.

So ... that little evil tiny hijacker can also save us in moments of danger ...

Isn't this the fundamental reason of why we cannot be simply rational? Isn't this the reason of why we cannot be only good or only bad? Fully black or fully white?

Once again, my reasoning conforms Dr. Zimbardo theory, we can be both evil and good [1,2 ]. We are wired that way.



Picture taken from [link]