Saw this this morning:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150818-what-is-it-like-to-have-never-felt-an-emotion
What a fascinating condition. While I think I know people who are like this, and it seems like it affects about 10% of the population, I'm stunned to think that someone could live like this. I live in a world of absolutely vibrant and constant emotion. My problem is never a lack of feeling, but usually a surfeit... I feel things deeply, constantly, and it adds to the richness I perceive in the world around me. And I think I am fairly good at acknowledging and expressing these emotions - sometimes too good, if I'm honest.
So it's interesting to me that - like someone who was unable to perceive color - there are people who cannot understand their emotions. The wikipedia article on this is pretty good, too, and maybe worth a look.
On one hand, I feel bad that people can't experience/express the full range of emotions associated with what I would consider a "normal" life. However, if you were unable to experience color, and hadn't ever in your whole life, how would you know what you were missing? The BBC article as well as the wikipedia thing seems to indicate that these emotions exist within these folks, but that there's a disconnect between what's happening in their bodies that the majority would recognize as an emotional response and the identification of the emotion.
It's very clear that emotions are a complex thing, and very subjective and variable, both in each person and from experience to experience. But knowing that there is a body of research out there, and that there are others who experience this kind of thing, can be very helpful and hopeful.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150818-what-is-it-like-to-have-never-felt-an-emotion
What a fascinating condition. While I think I know people who are like this, and it seems like it affects about 10% of the population, I'm stunned to think that someone could live like this. I live in a world of absolutely vibrant and constant emotion. My problem is never a lack of feeling, but usually a surfeit... I feel things deeply, constantly, and it adds to the richness I perceive in the world around me. And I think I am fairly good at acknowledging and expressing these emotions - sometimes too good, if I'm honest.
So it's interesting to me that - like someone who was unable to perceive color - there are people who cannot understand their emotions. The wikipedia article on this is pretty good, too, and maybe worth a look.
On one hand, I feel bad that people can't experience/express the full range of emotions associated with what I would consider a "normal" life. However, if you were unable to experience color, and hadn't ever in your whole life, how would you know what you were missing? The BBC article as well as the wikipedia thing seems to indicate that these emotions exist within these folks, but that there's a disconnect between what's happening in their bodies that the majority would recognize as an emotional response and the identification of the emotion.
It's very clear that emotions are a complex thing, and very subjective and variable, both in each person and from experience to experience. But knowing that there is a body of research out there, and that there are others who experience this kind of thing, can be very helpful and hopeful.
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