Feel - evaluate

The theory

A reader question, and one that crops up very often in environmental circles, is: "How do you avoid doom and gloom?"

The answer is terrifically simple: You don't. Giving out the negative messages is very important. People often believe that they shouldn't be negative because they have some very naive ideas about feelings.

Some people believe feelings are some kind of remnant of the time when people were monkeys, and that modern humans should be able to decide everything using their reason only. These people tend to think that negative feelings are a nuisance that should be ignored. The truth is, there are some specialised braincells, called spindle neurons, that exist only in humans and apes, and their mission seems to be to ensure that all our brain is well connected with our emotional centre - which means, in any case humans are more, rather than less, emotional than other animals.

Other people believe that feelings are very important, and are there to be experienced fully and override everything. These people tend to think that negative feelings are a very bad thing, that should be avoided at all costs, because they are - well, awful!!

Both views are very naive. The purpose of feelings is to move us, to tell us the difference between good and bad, to give us a clear indication of what we should do next. To feel is the same thing as to evaluate, but said in a shorter word.

Some feelings are very old, and just about every animal has them. Others have appeared more recently in evolutionary history. Let's go through the main emotions and what they mean:

• Desire: This is almost certainly the oldest feeling. Desire tells us what we want. Desire drives us towards everything we need: food, shelter, company, etc. The message of desire is: "Go towards this."
• Fear: This is almost about as old. Fear tells us the dangers to avoid: falling, predators, and anything that has caused us pain. The message of fear is: "Go away from that, or hide."
• Calm: This may be considered not a feeling, but just the neutral state when there are no other feelings. The message of calm is: "Rest, save your energy for another time."
• Anger: This is a feeling that doesn't seem to exist in the simplest animals, such as earthworms. Some insects seem to be the simplest animals capable of being genuinely angry. Anger tells us to attack when the boundaries of our territory are crossed. In the case of humans, this territory may exist only in our mind - for example, political parties have clearly defined mental boundaries. The message of anger is: "Attack."
• Joy: It may come as a surprise to some, but the simplest animals don't seem able to feel genuinely happy. This is because simple animals don't really have goals, so they can't feel positive about achieving them. Maybe the simplest animals that can feel happy are fish. Joy tells us that we are doing a good job of achieving whatever we intended to do, and we should keep on doing it. The message of joy is: "Carry on."
• Sadness: This is a feeling that is only seen in more complex animals, mostly mammals. Sadness tells us that something went wrong but it's too late to do anything about it now. The best thing to do after the danger has passed is to lie low and brood, because maybe reliving the memories of what happened will give us a clue to avoid this if it happens next time. The message of sadness is: "Lie low, remember and think."
• Boredom: Another feeling that is only found in fairly complex animals, birds and mammals. Boredom tells us that there isn't anything specific that needs doing right now, but we have spare energy, so we might as well explore and learn something new. Only animals that are complex enough that they can constantly learn about their surroundings can be bored. The message of boredom is: "Explore."
• Surprise: Surprise is an emotion derived from fear - that's why the expressions for fear and surprise aren't far from each other. All mammals can be startled, but it's hard to draw the line where startle ends and surprise begins. You need to be pretty complex to be genuinely surprised. Surprise tells us that something isn't as we expected - and only animals that have an understanding of the world good enough to try to guess the future can be surprised. The message of surprise is: "Look again, more carefully."

Going back to the original question, doom and gloom make people sad, which means that they feel more like thinking and ruminating the information they have just received - and that is definitely one of the things you would like them to do. But you would like them also to be driven to action - and for that, you need one of the active emotions: desire, fear, anger or joy.

Activist groups often use fear and anger to drive people to action - and it works, but sustaining these emotions for a long time saps people's commitment. Nobody wants to feel negative too often, negative emotions are fundamentally telling us that we are in the wrong path. And the easiest way of avoiding those negative feelings is to avoid the people who encourage them.

After seeing that fear and anger aren't working, many activists are trying to turn towards joy. At first blush, it seems perfect: Doesn't everybody want to be happy? But it isn't as simple as it sounds, because the message of joy is: "Carry on", or to put it another way: "Don't change". When you are trying to get people to change, joy won't get you very far.

That leaves us with desire. Desire can change people, and it doesn't make them feel bad. The only catch with desire, you need to have a clear direction to go to. Unfortunately, many activists aren't too clear about where they are going. Those who are will be the ones that change the world.

The practice

Experiment 1

This one is best done with a pet. You can also do it with wild animals, but observing them for long periods is usually harder.

Watch your pet carefully and take notes on what it's doing. What feelings can you guess it has? Look at the list above, with the messages that accompany each feeling, to make your deductions. Which feelings seem to be dominant in your pet? Are they normal for this kind of animal?

Experiment 2

Do the same experiment as above, but on somebody you know well. Maybe this sounds a bit silly, because you think you already know quite well how they feel! They tell you and you see it in their face.

The truth is, people often lie to themselves and others about their feelings. The best way of knowing somebody's true feelings is observing what they do and comparing their actions with the list above. They may say they are excited about something and happy to do it, but is it in fact fear what makes their heart pound? You can tell by what they do: are they going about it enthusiastically, like they would carry on forever? Or are there mixed signals?