[lit-ideas] Re: Tune in and turn off
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:20:19 +0100 (BST)
> >That
> > there are 'four basic (sic) ways' for people to express their emotions
> > needs some evidence.
I think it can be argued that there are three basic *negative* emotions, to
whit - anger, sadness, anxiety [all 'dysphoria' to the Greeks]. There are
many, many ways of *expressing* these emotions. It is a mistake to regard the
possible limited number of types of emotion as setting a limit to the ways of
expressing these emotions.
>Why the 20th century was the
> bloodiest in history, and on and on.
Because of mass destruction and mass population. Yet, per capita - and war
aside, the murder rate has gone down markedly in the last several centuries.
>We think in words. If we don't
> have a language, we literally can't think.
We sometimes think in words, but many of our thoughts are not in words - for
example, I could recognise [in thought]if the creases in my trousers were
altered even if I would struggle to describe in language the differing
character of the creases. I might clearly recognise my assailant though I
would struggle to describe him in language that would clearly allow another
to recognise him (that's why the police hire artists to translate such
descriptions into a picture).
To think all thought is language-dependent is just one of the prejudices of
the cunning linguists who have deformed rational thought on this topic.
Donal
Hi Mike
Nice poem
England
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