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This looks like it might be an interesting read, but I just read the Chapter "Are Feelings Real?" (because it is a subject of personal interest of mine that I'v
by james-bcn 1y ago
This looks like it might be an interesting read, but I just read the Chapter "Are Feelings Real?" (because it is a subject of personal interest of mine that I've studied a lot) and I found it to be very unsatisfactory, not really addressing the question at all, but sidestepping it. Which makes me wonder if the whole thing is really worth reading.
- sva_ 1y agoYou might enjoy chapter 3, 'Origin of Emotion' of a book entitled 'A Brief History of Intelligence' by Max Bennett. Although you need to read the two chapters leading up to it, realistically.
- james-bcn 1y agoNot that one but it was in my wish list, so I've purchased it on the basis of your recommendation, thank you!
- phrotoma 1y agoI'll join sva_ with another book recomendation: How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett. I am not an academic, but as far as I can tell she is a leading authority on the matter and the books is extremely accessible for the layperson.
- james-bcn 1y agoThanks for the recommendation. I've read it, not a huge fan, I think she makes good points but sets up false straw men ("everyone thinks that...") and overstates her case.
- rishi_rt 1y agoYou might also like Reason and Less by Vinod Goel (MIT Press). He talks about human behavior being an outcome of 4 systems - autonomous, instinctive, associative and reasoning with evolutionary newer systems like reasoning and associative tethered to evolutionary older systems like autonomous (every living organism exhibits some form of autonomous behavior). He describes emotion as some currency that mediates interactions between these systems, and the ultimate selection mechanism for initiating actions.