Paul Ekman

This book is divided into three parts. The first, 'Emotional Strategies: An Existentialist Perspective ' observes in some detail the ways in which we engage the world through sixteen different emotions, with several of their permutations. Following Heidegger; who believes that emotions tunes us to the world and Sartre; who reasons that emotions have a purpose, Solomon claims that we are responsible for our emotions. This coincides with the fundamental Stoic insight that we “are” our emotions. Aristotle discussed certain emotions at length, notably anger, which he described in remarkably modern terms. Commonly classified as a basic negative and destructive emotion, emotional reactions can usefully be read as, and ultimately even identified with, strategies we adopt as a way of dealing with the challenges of our lives- for example, prompting us to fight for justice and protecting our rights. Thus even

Ekman studied how what people felt and what they thought could be revealed just by the facial expressions people made. He wanted to see how people can look at faces and figure out what they were thinking. He studied many of the different expressions that people could make and what each of those expressions mean. He also studied the involuntary muscle movements and how they were triggered automatically when people feel certain emotions. He figured out how to read these emotions to figure out what people are thinking basically taking what humans do naturally a step farther. He became very proficient at the art of “mind reading”.

Emotions are used in everyday life, whether it be just a simple smile that makes happiness disperse in your brain, or a death of a loved one that causes sadness. The basic emotions are joy, interest, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt. The way we see emotion in ourselves and others can be very complex because we sometimes assume they feel a certain way just based on their actions or even facial expressions. When emotion is discussed in psychological terms, it is not based on one thing, instead it’s a mix of bodily arousal, expressive behaviors, conscious experience. Many theories try to explain how emotion works.

In contrast, the manager of the Revenue Commissioner only does well when the emotions are evident (e.g. anger and excitement). All the respondents believe that some emotions are easier to read than others. The pharmacy technician relies on certain cues such as the “smiling eyes” to signal happiness. In contrast, the therapy director believes that the feeling of upset is more transparent than happiness. Altogether, the responses support the theory of the six universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, and surprise.

This study was about all of our emotions and how they compare to different cultures. Paul Ekman and Friesen did this study to prove that emotions are the same across many cultures. They looked closely at the cultures that have been isolated from the Western and Eastern cultures. They chose the tribe South Fore, they are a group in New Guinea who have existed as a Stone Age Society. This tribe has had very minimal communication with the Western Culture and only see emotions from their own tribe people. Ekman and Friesen chose people from the Fore group that did not speak English or Pidgin, never worked as a Westerner, and never lived in the Western communities. They chose 189 adults and 130 children while also choosing 23 adults who had experienced what the Western society was all about. They presented these individuals with brief stories and three facial expressions to match with the stories. The participants had to choose the facial expression that fits best according to the story they just read. Ekman and Friesen discovered that there were no significant differences between the Fore group and the Westernized group. They both mainly chose the same emotions for each story. The children

In this essay I am going to critically assess the views of Paul Tillich’s views on religious language. I will first start by critically assessing Paul Tillich’s theory of religious language being presented as symbols and his rejections of signs. I will then conclude and provide a short summary before moving on to views for and against his ideas, before stating my own thoughts.

Attempts to define “emotion” have proved to be rather difficult. Instead of searching for a comprehensive definition, Gross (2011) describes the three core features of emotions. First, emotions occur when an individual decides that a situation is relevant to his or her goals. Second, emotions are multi-faceted, and involve both subjective and physiological experiences, as well as behaviors. The third feature involves the authoritative nature of emotions. They have the powerful ability to interrupt ongoing processes, assert their priority over other activities, and force their way into awareness. For example, some traditions describe emotions as “disorganized interruptions of mental activity” (Salovey & Mayer, 1989). Emotions are such an

People are shaped into individuals through many defining attributes – from the way we communicate and the way we express ourselves to a person’s morals and ethics. Coincidentally, these are all linked through one major omniscient trait – emotions. Emotions contain a wide spectrum of subcategories, but these can basically be broken down into the two elementary divisions: happiness and sadness. These ups and downs are crucial for people to be themselves; to have their own stories and experiences to tell.

One may speculate that change has to be great and affect a large number of people. Advocating for a social cause may seem daunting. However, when a person is drawn to a cause, has a passion for a certain subject, or becomes angry about a situation and desires a transformation, these circumstances can be a catalyst to be outspoken about a topic. It is easy to stay mute on a subject or even stray away from it. Paul Loeb, authors an inspirational guide that stresses how important it is to become an agent of change and not to worry so much about the end result – the important part is to start the process to change.

Paul Johnson held Charles Darwin in very high regard, calling him a “gentleman scientist” many times throughout his analysis. Overall he saw Darwin as inquisitive and conscientious of the world around him; often not publishing anything that would cause an uproar in the public or the church. Johnson also praises Darwin's ability to work in many different fields of science going as far at to call Darwin a shavnt, or someone with an extreme ability and intelligence who often times burdened with a severe mental handicap. It is unknown whether Darwin was, in fact, a shavant or not Johnson however certainly believed that he was.

Paul Ekman was born in 1934 and at age 14 his mother committed suicide after suffering from severe bi-polar disorder. At that point, he decided he wanted to study facial expressions of emotion in order to assist other people before such tragic outcomes occurred. By the time he was 15, he had enrolled in University of Chicago and became interested in group therapy. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1954 and in 1958 he had earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Adelphi University. His Master’s thesis was about the study of facial expressions and body movement. From 1960 to 2004 he worked at the University of California and starting in 1963 he received continual research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health for 40 years to study nonverbal behavior.

Paul Ekman wanted to resolve a dispute over the nature of human emotion. He traveled to New Guinea because he wanted to test Darwins theory on an isolated group. The theory that expressions are a universal language, Ekman found an easy way to test the theory, by showing individuals of the group three photos, and pick the photo that matches the story. Edman tested five percent of the group, and confirmed that there are six universal emotion that can be recognized around the world. Joy, anger, sadness, surprise, fear and disgust are expressions that can recognized around the world, essentially human expression are a universal language. The word is a diverse place, but most of the world share the same emotions. Facial expression can express how

Fayard, J. V., Roberts, B. W., Robins, R. W., & Watson, D. (2012). Uncovering the Affective

We are exposed to various emotions everyday, whether it is at work, at school, on the street, or even at home. An emotion could be described as an individual’s reaction to an event, in which that individual is aware of his/her own feeling. There are two types of emotions, positive and negative. Positive emotions could include feelings such as love, joy, and bliss. Negative emotions could include feelings like fear, anger, and anxiety. Social psychologists are under the impression that negative emotions are stronger than positive emotions. Emotions have physiological as well as mental components. This means that there is some form of arousal and thinking involved. Now that we know a little about emotions, one might ask, what are the basic

Chapter 3 explores the concept of universally shared basic emotions, an idea that was first advanced as a theory by Charles Darwin. Paul Ekman and Jakk Panksepp studied the concept of