Ever since Darwin, and perhaps long before him, it has been theorized that our emotions play a crucial role in adapting to our environment. This means that emotions are not just an inconvenient byproduct of consciousness, but a form of higher cognition – an ability for living beings to experience their world in deeper and more complex ways.

Humans are a species that thrive on social relations, and our emotions become a gauge on morality and justice. They help facilitate our interactions by giving us clues on how to connect with others in meaningful and productive ways. When someone makes us feel bad our emotions tell us to ignore them, while when someone makes us feel good our emotions tell us to appreciate them.

Emotions however come in many different qualities, degrees, and intensities. While “positive” and “negative” are the broadest sense of emotions (and also the types most commonly researched), theorists have devised hierarchies and scales that range anywhere from 36 different types of emotions [1] to 65 types [2] to 135 [3]. These differences can often depend on the culture being studied, or the intentions of the reseachers to construct an emotional framework that fits their line of research. For example, Laros and Steenkamp often do emotional research related to consumer behavior [1].

Perhaps more important than how researchers conceptualize different emotions is how we experience them. You can probably reflect on some past experiences right now and write down a handful of common emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, etc. You might also recognize that different experiences elicit different intensities of each emotion. Eating some ice cream might give you a mild sense of happiness, while winning the lottery would give you a much stronger sense of happiness. Researchers can try to measure this based on arousal response in the brain.

The first key to emotional intelligence is being able to identify these emotions while they occur. This requires some sense of reflection or introspection into our internal state. While this seems like commonsense, many people can go about their day being grumpy without ever consciously thinking, “Boy, I’m really grumpy today.” Instead we experience and act on these mental states unconsciously, which is a sign of poor emotional intelligence.

Of course even after we are aware of our emotions it doesn’t mean they can’t mislead us to undesirable actions. That is why the next step to emotional intelligence is to assess the origins of our feeling. In other words, ask yourself, “Why do I feel X?” If we attribute the origins of our feelings correctly, then we have a better idea on how to modify our behavior. There is no need to meditate to achieve results (although meditation will speed up the practice): just the will to be mindful and the seconds spent doing a quick “mental check-up” whenever one notices increased emotional arousal.

As reflective and rational beings, we all have the resources we need to adapt to our emotions in ways that facilitate our livelihood. Some use these resources more effectively than others, but we all have the ability to improve with practice – and, it is actually quite easy to practice because 1) Most of our conscious experiences have certain emotions integrated into them, and 2) Mindfulness is a skill that can be applied to all activities.

Sources

[1] LAROS, F., & STEENKAMP, J. (2005). Emotion in consumer behavior: a hierarchical approach. Journal of Business Research, 58, 1437-1445.

[2] McNAIR, D. M., LORR, M., & DROPPLEMAN, L. F. (1971). Profile of mood states. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

[3] ZUCKERMAN, M., & LUBIN, B. (1985). The multiple affect adjective check list revised. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

Although I certainly haven’t forgotten about my personal blog here, lately a lot of my energy has been going into my political blog, which I currently share with 8 contributors (and hopefully 10 by the end of the summer!). Over the past couple of months I’ve noticed some advantages and disadvantages to having a multi-authored blog. I thought I would touch on some of these points today.

+ More content.

Naturally, two workers can produce more than one, and three can produce more than two, and so on. This is especially true if each product being produced is particular to the efforts of one mind (aka, not in an “assembly line”-like fashion, where if one person dozes, the whole structure of production is ruined). Instead, I can spend a whole month not writing anything, but, instead, two other authors may write a couple articles each month – and the blog still appears to be “active” (a sign loyal readers are going to want to see).

- Less quality control.

Unless you are very stringent about what content gets published, or you are a part of a very homogenized group of writers, there are going to be areas of disagreement between you and other contributors. This can be a bit frustrating when an idea you typically don’t endorse gets published on a blog you would rather more represent you.

+ Diversity and dialogue.

Looking on the bright side of the last point, varying opinions can also lead to diversity and a healthy dialogue. Diversity is, in many ways, the defining attribute of evolution, and it is no different for competing species as it is for competing viewpoints. The other blog I write for, Libertarian Minds, is filled with different kinds of thinkers (Constitutionalists, Objectivists, Anarchists, Atheists, Deists, Theists), and in my opinion these differences add new dimensions to our discussions on politics, society, culture, and morality. They make us all smarter and more well-rounded – and more tolerant.

- Sharing of benefits/revenue

For some blogs this may just mean competing for page views, while for others this may mean distributing revenue among writers. This means the more contributors you have, the less money you will each get paid.

+ More heads marketing

Despite the last point, having more writers may also mean having more traffic streams. Writers A and B may be active users on Reddit, while Writers C and D spend more time advertising on Facebook. Everyone will also have different groups of friends, family, and coworkers to show the site too. This means more opportunities for eyeballs on your blog.

- Greater potential for conflict

On one side of the coin, humans are often good at cooperating and working together. On the other side, they can also get caught up in pissing contests and foul-mouthed exchanges. Fortunately at Libertarian Minds all the writers seem to get along and interact respectfully (knock on wood), but there is often a greater potential for conflict as you add more passionate thinkers to the equation. Some conflicts, of course, can be good, and lead to further cohesion – other conflicts, however, can cause permanent divides (especially if one person feels they are being ostracized from the rest).

+ Sense of community.

As with any group project, a sense of community is beneficial. It means individuals feel they have a responsibility to others – to provide good content and make the blog into as good of a blog as possible. We always see professional athletes talk about their team as if it is a “family,” the same can be true for teams of bloggers. Relationships build and build over time.

CONCLUSION

Really this was just a brief brainstorm on the pluses and minuses of writing for a multi-authored blog, and I think I did a pretty comprehensive job. I am very pleased with my experience so far, and I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages (which is a big reason why Libertarian Minds has so far received a good amount of traffic, considering its young age). I am really excited to see where it takes all of us in the near future.

I found an article today at BBC News. It described how chimps exhibit similar patterns of behavior as humans when dealing with a dying loved one.

The article was rather short (and not too informative), but one excerpt suggests a compelling parallel:

Staff at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Stirlingshire used video cameras to document the death of a terminally ill female named Pansy, believed to be more than 50 years old.

When she became lethargic in the days leading up to her death, other members of the group became quieter than usual and stayed with her at nights, grooming her more than they did normally.

After her death, her daughter stayed near the body for an entire night, even though she had never slept on that platform before.

All of the group were subdued for several days afterwards, and avoided the place where she had died, spending long hours grooming each other.

Visit here to see two excerpts of some of this footage: the first video reveals a moment of death in a chimps life with surrounding family, and the bottom video shows a young chimp playing with a dead one until the mother takes it away.

Primal Empathy:

Your Suffering Is My Suffering