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The trouble with — and without — emotions
Emotions can unhelpfully interfere with sound decision making, but they are also crucial for making good choices. We have them, and AI doesn’t. What does that mean?
Last Saturday, I attended a funeral service for a 91-year-old relative of my wife’s. The emotions expressed, evoked and experienced by his children and grandchildren as they shared their heartfelt testimonies, interspersed with readings of his life story and fitting poetry against a slide show with images of the departed strongly resonated with me, even though I had not known him, nor did I know his family, at all well. Yet perhaps this was not so surprising: we share the bio-electrical chemistry that embodies our capacity for emotions, evolved over millions of years from simple survival mechanisms to our complex emotional landscape. Often unspoken, signalled unconsciously in subtle ways through facial expressions, choice of words, tone of voice, and gestures, emotions connect us, form and maintain bonds. They allow us to anticipate how we might react to others’ actions and how they might react to ours, and they enable us to feel each other’s joy and sorrow, fears and hopes. Powerful stuff, considering we tend to see ourselves as thinking and reasoning creatures. Isn’t that odd?
