Myth-busting Emotions; summary of How Emotions Are Made

Okay. So this book, How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barret was in serious need of an editor or a lumberjack that was willing to cut 425 pages. I really wouldn’t recommend anyone read this book, buuuttt… I did (because that is what I do). There are a handful of super helpful takeaways.

Feldman Barret’s research disproves some common misconceptions about emotions:

• There is no hard-wired circuitry for anger, happiness, awe or any other emotion.

• There is no defined physiological response for emotions, not everyone smelly-sweats when they’re angry, or hiccups when they’re in love; a racing heart can signal fear or excitement.

• The face doesn’t hold a universal fingerprint for emotion. What could look like RBF could just be indigestion (every time my partner says ‘what was that look for,” I throw this book at him.)

Instead of ☝️, Feldman Barrett’s exhaustively in-depth research suggests that we learn emotions. Like most learning, it happens through context and culture.

The brain’s job is to predict so it can make sure your body has the energy and resources to continue to survive (i.e., “I’m going to start running. So, I will need the energy to move. Quick! Release the glucose!” Or “I’m out of breath; I need more oxygen!” Or “I didn’t get enough oxygen, so my organs are shutting down!”). The brain does this because of past experiences.

To make life easier, the brain uses concepts. Shorthand. Instead of ordering “flat-pressed ground corn, with chicken seasoned with ground peppers, salt, & cumin, and onions,” we order a taco. Concepts are a significant efficiency gain for the brain and makes the job of predicting both easier and typically more accurate.

Taco break.

Where were we? The brain figures out what is going on around us by matching what is happening with past learnings and trying to find the closest match. When our toddler learned the word d@mmit (@=a), she did so by observing several instances: the spilled pickle jar, the loud crashing noise, the smell of vinegar, her wet toes. Then there was the ruined cell phone, the sound of something dropping into water; or, moments like that time Chris Webber called timeout. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when she spills her milk and yells “d@mmit!!!!!!!!”

This process of pattern-matching and prediction is the same for learning sounds, objects, words, and internal states. Internal states? Idaho? Dumb joke.

While the body doesn’t have physiological markers for emotions, it does have two helpers: 1) valence, which is how pleasant or unpleasant you feel and 2) arousal, how calm or amped-up you feel. These internal states are part of the context in which we learn. And so, when we start naming emotions like, “you must feel so angry” or “you look like you’re feeling calm,” our kids learn to associate the words with what their bodies are feeling, in addition to what is going on around them. As a result, they begin to learn emotional concepts.

Just like how they learn the word taco.

Taco break.

​Like all the brain’s predictions, it uses experience to guide the action and gives sensations meaning. If your heart is pounding (the same sensation), it could be out of fear or excitement, depending on the context.

Like the interior designer that can identify five different types of blue or how my toddler can identify 26 different types of heavy machinery (where I only see big yellow thingies), people have different levels of emotion concepts or emotional granularity. Some people are happy, sad or hungry. Others are contented, awestruck, cheerful, gleeful, elated, carefree, delighted, enraptured.

Feldman Barret, like John Gottman, found that more emotional granularity (aka emotional intelligence) is correlated with better immune function, academic performance, and social success. While Gottman talks about emotional intelligence in very cerebral terms, Feldman Barret contends that you cannot have emotional intelligence without knowing how your body feels, emotional intelligence is born from the brain<>body connection. Feldman Barret also emphasizes teaching our kids about their positive internal sensations because when they’re top of mind for kids, they can access them more easily.

Emotional concepts are taught and not something we’re born with, they are a product of our caregivers, our culture, and context. By way of example, the idea of schadenfreude doesn’t exist in English, but man, once it entered the vernacular, you could see it everywhere.

I leave you today with Feldman Barret’s charming quote, “It takes more than one human brain to create the human mind.” That’s you. That’s us.