3/19/13

• IB Art Show this Saturday! Support your peers!(Mackenzie and Scarlet!)

• CAS Meeting March 28.

• Be sure you signed up for TOK 12, for the fall semester of TOK.

Emotion and Decisions:Are emotions essentially self-serving?

Big Life Decisions:• Which college will I go to?• Where should I live?• Who should I marry? • Should I have children? • What career do I want?• Should I buy a house? • Should I sell my house?• How much money do I want to

make?

– Emotion plays ________% in these decisions for me.

– Emotion plays ________% in these decisions in other cultures.

• Should I change careers?• Who should my friends

be? • What is my political

orientation?• What is my sexual

orientation?• What faith do I practice (if

any)?• What is my opinion on

controversial issues?

• Does our culture simply have too many options?

Rationalism? (Reason/Logic)Romanticism? (Emotion…trust your gut!)Empiricism? (Experiential…senses show

us to best choice)

BIAS

Altruism, reciprocity, compassion

• Evolutionarily, are these things self-serving?

“All languages that derive from Latin from the word “compassion” by combining the prefix meaning “with” and the root meaning “suffering”…which means we cannot look on coolly as others suffer.” –Milan Kundera, The Unbearable

Lightness of Being

Arranged Marriage…

• What is love? – Darwin argues that love is a combination of: • Attraction—we are attracted to people who appear

healthy.• Pheromones—imperceptible scent our brains pick up

on.• Reciprocity—we care for them, they care for us.• Ability to survive—provider, nurturer, safe, etc.• Genetic attributes that are ‘better’ than ours.

Let’s get…chemical?

• Your brain on LOVE! (Helen Fischer, PhD)

• James Lange: EMOTION is physiological. Agree? Disagree?

• If your parents made a list of attributes they would like to see in your future partner, would it match the list you made for yourself?

For thought:

• How do EMOTIONS influence ethics, morals and values?

• Is there ever an ethical reason to use knowledge of emotions in others to your advantage?