Theories of Emotion and Intuition

Theories of  Emotion

James Lange and Canon Bard Theories

The James Lange and Canon Bard theories both formulate concepts on how we feel emotions and how we express them. They are in a sense the opposites of each other, as the Canon Bard theory refutes James Langes. James Lange states that an emotion is the result of mimicking the physical symptoms that the body displays as a consequence of an external stimuli. This means, that how your body reacts, and the physical symptoms it shows, generate how you will feel, and the corresponding emotion. For example, when you watch a sad movie, you may cry, leading you to think you are experiencing the emotion of sadness. Critics of this theory say that Lange is disregarding the mental aspect of emotion.The Canon Bard theory on the other hand, states that instead of sharing such a strong cause and effect relationship, emotions and bodily changes occur simultaneously. Emotion is more what leads to physical reactions, so when you are sad from the movie, you cry.

Intuition

The word intuition, coming from the Latin word intueri, meaning to look inside or to contemplate, refers to the ability to acquire knowledge without interference or the use of reason. Intuition is what provides us with beliefs that are not related to reason and logic, and we therefore can not easily justify. Intuition to some can be seen as a sort of sixth sense because it is not related to logical processing but is rather something we feel or believe, not as a direct result of the other senses. I can not recall an occasion where I have felt an intution or such that led me to make a decision, so I am skeptical of it. Yet, my classmate Tess'shared a story about her mothers use of intuition and this led me to think about intuition further.

Wanderlust

WANDERLUST 

Wanderlust is a term that I became acquainted with a few years back, reading a book in German class. Back then, I didnt quite understand it, because I had never felt it. I knew the meaning, in the dictionary it is defined as "A strong desire to travel: A man consumed by Wanderlust". The term is originally German, it is a loanword in
English. It is simple to translate the word, as wander means wandering in English and lust is the same word as english too. Lust is a strong desire, or impulse, and in this case it is to travel (wander).
I chose this word because to me it has gained meaning when I came to Brasilia. As my dad is a diplomat, we travel a lot to different countries to live there. But, this does not quite fulfill the needs of someone overcome with Wanderlust. It is rather focused on experiencing the unknown, and venturing out to places you have not been before. It is less temporary than moving somewhere. It has always been my dream to purchase a hot air balloon and travel through the world on this, not remaining put in one place for long. Although this dream can be considered silly and unrealistic, it was driven by Wanderlust, driven by the need to see what the world has to offer. As we are polluting the world, depositing our wastes in all its waters and fields, my dream becomes more and more fragile, for these places that I want to visit, are places of astonishing natural beauty, places that people do not tend to live. Wanderlust is a term that can have many facades, as every human wants to travel to different places, for different reasons. For me, the natural is very inviting, as I am stuck in a city of capitalistic agenda. For someone living in a forest, the city may intrigue that individual. Wanderlust is extremely based on curiosity, but also on the desire not to feel encaged or suffocated by one surrounding. In Brasilia, this feeling can be extremely strong, as the city does not offer a lot of room to breathe, nor a lot of things to do, leading to one getting tired of the surrounding quite fast. Wanderlust represents the result of feeling enclosed and suffocated , and this feeling comes often to me. Wanderlust is the desire to escape from routine, from a dreary life, and experience new places. Wanderlust can mean different things to different people. The picture I chose, are mainly beautiful places in the world, that I have so far been deprived of, and would love to go to and experience. The eye represents the visual and perception, as the feeling of Wanderlust relies on this. As you desire change your surrounding, you desire to change what you perceive and to enable your senses to perceive the unknown and the new.The elephant on the bicycle is from the song Paradise by Coldplay. Paradise conveys the feeling of  wanting to go out and see the world and find this one place where one is unconditionally happy, essentially finding paradise. Although Wanderlust is less focused on finding that paradise, both Paradise and Wanderlust portray dissatisfaction with being in one place and being unhappy there. The waterfall and the walkway with the flowers are stunning. Bora Bora to me represents peace and relaxation, driving me to go there one day. The mountain represents adventure and success, climbing to the top gives a feeling of strength. The girl in the car looking out of the window, shows curiosity and desire, and she is likely to be feeling a form of Wanderlust. 

Color Theory

Plutchniks Color  Theory 

Robert Plutchnik was a psychologist who developed an emotion theory during the 1960s to the 19802. There he assumes that we have eight basic emotions. These have according to him developed through evolution. All other emotions derive from these 8 emotions, as one can see on this picture. 

According to this infliential theory, emotions are classified. What he considers primary emotions are anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust and joy. Plutchik that these 'basic' emotions are biologically primitive, but have evolved as time goes by. This circular model describes the relationships between these emotional concepts. The idea is similar to the ones on a color wheel. The cones vertical dimension is representative of the the intensity of the emotion, emotions get more intense as they move from the outside to the center of the wheel. For example, boredom can intensify to loathing as you move outside the circle. The eight parts are designed to indicate that there are eight primary emotions. Each section has an emotion that is opposing to it, for example the opposite of sadness is happiness. Putchniks theory is one of the most influential classification approaches for general emotional responses.