"Believers like to think that life is a test of faith, sent by their god, that they’re passing.
I like to imagine that life is a test of logic and reason, sent by intergalactic aliens, that they’re failing."
How do you view emotions and emotional processing in light of rationalism and objective reality? What is your approach to dealing with emotional experiences that are in some way out of line with one’s rational perception?
Emotions are a useful input, particularly resulting from instinct. Fear as a result of imminent danger. Dislike of someone because your instincts are picking up the non-verbal cues that they are being dishonest.
But they’re unreliable, which is why they need to be only an input, not the be-all and end-all of human perception and judgement. We know they’re unreliable. It’s why we tell people to calm down or to “sleep on it.” it’s why we know that eyewitness statements from an emotionally charged situation can vary in detail. It’s why we seek corroboration for our suspicions rather than simply acting on them. It’s why we know depression, paranoia and many other conditions exist.
Advertisers and marketers seek to manipulate emotions for whatever it is they’re promoting. We seek to manipulate our own emotion through adrenaline, alcohol, caffeine or even music.
In the wild, not reacting when you should typically has more pitfalls than reacting unnecessarily. But we understand our world better, can affect it more dramatically and more immediately than (other) animals can.
There are objective truths about our reality. We determine those through evidence - being able to repeatably and independently verify them - not through emotions or “because I think so.” We experience it subjectively, filtered through our previous experiences and even our biology (e.g. colour blindness, depression), which is why this verification is necessary.
So you have an emotion. Great. The next question is whether it’s reasonable and accurate. Are you scared because you should be - e.g. because the brakes on your car travelling at speed on the highway have failed - or is it irrational - e.g. because you spotted a beagle on a leash 20 metres away. Are you euphoric because “god is moving through you” or for the same reason people got hysterical at Beatles and Elvis appearances? And how would you tell? For that matter, how would you tell it’s your preferred god and not Odin or Zeus? Or even Satan? Couldn’t Satan be trying to get you onside with a dose of elation?
The other question is whether the emotion even matters at all. Religionists being “offended” is irrelevant to whether they can refute the evidence for evolution. Being upset or angry about being cheated on is irrelevant to whether you treat the barista preparing your coffee appropriately (unless, maybe, they are the person who cheated on you, I suppose).
This probably sounds really clinical and dry and overly logical. But it’s not about denying or suppressing your emotions, but understanding them. Using them productively. Not being taken advantage of due to your emotions being manipulated. Self-awareness and emotional maturity.
It’s funny. The same people who argue that human consciousness, qualia, experience and sentience, life itself and the intricacies of the brain are too complex to have arisen naturally, are the same people who, with no qualifications or even foundations in the numerous fields of neuroscience, will boldly oversimplify the atypical experiences down to “goddunit” - “I feel god in my heart.” Human life is either complex, or it’s not.
In the case of an emotion which is outside previous experience and inexplicable, such as the aforementioned euphoria, there’s nothing wrong with it being unexplained, with saying “I don’t know what that was” and acknowledging that emotions can be unreliable. It’s more honest than declaring “god is moving through me.” It could be a condition you didn’t know you had. It could be the result of circumstance or situation. Why not reserve judgement? Why not avoid declaring a conclusion before it’s warranted? Why not adopt curiosity instead and find out how and why it occurred?
And as a side-benefit, avoid ending up in a cult in the process.