I’ve been thinking a lot this year about how our emotions and senses connect to our reason and intellect.
Think about electronic devices like a television or computer. Often they have more than one input – electricity plus signal (like cable or internet) at a minimum, but sometimes other things too, like information from auxiliary devices. Those inputs are essential to the operation of the device, but they need to be carefully installed.
You need the right amount of electricity. You need a compatible signal. You need those things, crucially, to go into the ports meant for them. If you try to jam the power cord into the ethernet port, at a minimum the television won’t work. You might even break it or start a fire.
So we, as people, have all these inputs. We have senses that connect to emotions that connect to actions. Those things aren’t bad; in fact, they’re vital and necessary. But they’re also very subject to error.
Imagine that when you were a kid, a mean bully put on a Mickey Mouse mask and then jumped out at you in the dark, scaring you terribly. Maybe they even physically hurt you. As a result, somewhere in your brain, the “cartoon mouse” sensory input got plugged into the “fear and anger” emotional port in your brain. Now, as an adult, you hate cartoons, mice, or both.
In real terms, that’s like plugging the ethernet into the power port. It shouldn’t be there! It’s a mistake. A miscalibration. That’s not a thing you should be afraid of, and whatever actions you take as a result of that fear aren’t helping you live your life.
That might be a minor example, but there are much larger ones, and cumulatively they’re doing incredible, unseen damage to your life. The output – a healthy, happy existence – depends on our senses and emotions feeding properly into the brain that controls our actions.
