Emotion: Connections to AOKs
The Role of Emotion in Natural Science
In a perfect world emotion should not play a significant role in the development of scientific fields. The natural sciences have several, mostly informal, rules for the establishments of new discoveries the paramount of which is the scientific method. The scientific method is based purely on subjective ideas of hypotheses, experiments and finally replicability, these steps should, in theory, be completely independent of the emotion of the scientist conducting the study. In the real world though, emotion can interfere with developments, to a certain extent, at all stages.
The formulation of a hypothesis can be influenced by the feelings of the scientist, a person who is fundamentally against the notion of abortion studying its effects might be biased and expect the outcome of an experiment to be horrendous, that is if they even get that far, if the most well-regarded medical researcher in the field of surgical gynecology believes that abortion is a sin the entire community will experience a huge setback due to the lack of excellent research.
Additionally, if the necessary experimental methods of a potential discovery induce an emotion of disgust in the scientist, they might not feel comfortable performing the experiment, this could of course be considered a breach of their responsibilities, but nonetheless this flaw will still have an impact.
Lastly, the acceptance of findings through peer review should be the final way to separate ‘good’ science from ‘bad’ science, but as we saw in the cases of hypotheses and experiments the process of review could be heavily influenced by the emotions of the acting peers. If the peer does not agree with the sentiment of the discovery he has the power to discredit it purely based on emotion.
On the other hand, emotions can also be beneficial in the natural sciences. In some cases emotion can provide the motivation needed to engage in new scientific endeavors. If a scientist is exceptionally passionate about their field they will stop at nothing to innovate and contribute to the community.
The formulation of a hypothesis can be influenced by the feelings of the scientist, a person who is fundamentally against the notion of abortion studying its effects might be biased and expect the outcome of an experiment to be horrendous, that is if they even get that far, if the most well-regarded medical researcher in the field of surgical gynecology believes that abortion is a sin the entire community will experience a huge setback due to the lack of excellent research.
Additionally, if the necessary experimental methods of a potential discovery induce an emotion of disgust in the scientist, they might not feel comfortable performing the experiment, this could of course be considered a breach of their responsibilities, but nonetheless this flaw will still have an impact.
Lastly, the acceptance of findings through peer review should be the final way to separate ‘good’ science from ‘bad’ science, but as we saw in the cases of hypotheses and experiments the process of review could be heavily influenced by the emotions of the acting peers. If the peer does not agree with the sentiment of the discovery he has the power to discredit it purely based on emotion.
On the other hand, emotions can also be beneficial in the natural sciences. In some cases emotion can provide the motivation needed to engage in new scientific endeavors. If a scientist is exceptionally passionate about their field they will stop at nothing to innovate and contribute to the community.
"In the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man.”
– Galileo Galilei
The Role of Emotion in Religion
Emotions take up an essential part of many religious systems. The relationship to a god or several gods is the basis of faith and religious followers would claim to have experienced a certain connection to the God in question. The connection often appears through strong emotions such as love or hate. However one could argue that faith in God(s) is possible without having felt this connection.
In most religious traditions, emotions act as the basis of their faith. An example is a wedding which is a tradition based on mutual love and the celebration of it. In order to get married through the church, Christianity requires at one must go through several courses in order to confirm their faith and commitment towards their God. To Christians this confirmation of faith creates a very sentimental connection with their God. Many Christians will refuse to get married with out the approval from their God (as the aforementioned courses require).
When making a decision a religious person would conform their decisions to fit their religion in order to satisfy their emotions.
The Role of Emotion in Art
Emotion is a central aspect of art. Aristotle is often quoted as having said “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” That is, the purpose of art is not solely to visually represent the world around us but rather to induce emotion in the receiver. Interestingly, during paradigm shifts in the world of art the public perception and agreement on what constitutes art is changed, does this mean that our emotions suddenly change? Probably not, but rather we incorporate art that evokes different emotions under the umbrella of ‘good art’.
Different artists go to different lengths to provoke emotions, where some artists will actively seek out the provocative others will subtly inspire an emotional response through the minutiae of the brushstrokes or the small nuances of color. Note the differences in the examples below.