Of what value are emotions in the learning process?
According to the article 'Keep Your Head' by Michael Bond, emotions are of value when we need to make quick decisions. In fact, it was this instinct that kept us alive during human evolution in life-threatening situations. We need emotions in decisions on who to trust and when, and it is most useful when time is limited. But we are not often in those same life-threatening situations anymore, but our brains are still wired the same way to make the same choices. But now that we face different scenarios, in this day and age our emotional response often gets in the way of making the most rational and effective decisions. In situations where we need to weigh the risks vs. the benefits, emotions get in the way. The article gives the example of Americans' decisions after 9/11 concerning air travel. Though the fact is that air travel is far safer than travelling by car, the fear that people felt due to terrorism made them take the riskier decisions, and as a result the death rate caused by automobile accidents went up. Whenever we feel that we are a step closer to death, we go through whatever possible to prevent it, and we often don't look at the actual facts because we are scared of what we might find out. The more easily that we can imagine something happening, we automatically think that it is more likely to actually happen to us. Therefore our emotions distort our thinking, as they influence our rational thoughts. Media's emphasis on certain graphic images is in many cases the root problem of our lack of logical decision making. Therefore it is good that we have emotional responses to situations, since without those emotions the human race would not be here today. But now that times have changed, we need to be able to evaluate statistics and facts more to make well-informed decisions.
If you speak multiple languages-you are a polyglot, if you do-do you think differently in one language than you do in the other?
I speak three languages- English, Urdu and French. English is my first language, and I definitely speak it more than I speak Urdu and French. I usually think in English, because it is the language that I am most comfortable with and I spend more time speaking it. I can usually express myself best in it, because it's what I've grown up speaking and I have my broadest vocabulary in it. But when I'm at home with my family, I speak Urdu. I don't often think in Urdu, though sometimes I find that I do. But as it said in the article, different languages make you think differently about different things. For example, in Russian there are different words for specific shades of colours, making Russians more observant in chromatic details than English-speakers. Urdu is a very poetic language, and Urdu poems written by famous poets are very deep and descriptive. And I find that I am often able to express my emotions better in Urdu than in English. In Urdu there are more words to describe how a person is feeling than in English, and therefore I find that in Pakistan people seem to be able to tell how others are feeling faster and better than English speakers. Also, Urdu is a very descriptive language with many sayings. I find that this is the same with French. In French some descriptions of something are entire words in itself, and in French the five senses are very important, making French people more observant of tastes and smells, I find. Therefore I agree from first-hand experience with the article that different languages make you think differently and see things differently just because of the nature of the language.
According to the article 'Keep Your Head' by Michael Bond, emotions are of value when we need to make quick decisions. In fact, it was this instinct that kept us alive during human evolution in life-threatening situations. We need emotions in decisions on who to trust and when, and it is most useful when time is limited. But we are not often in those same life-threatening situations anymore, but our brains are still wired the same way to make the same choices. But now that we face different scenarios, in this day and age our emotional response often gets in the way of making the most rational and effective decisions.
In situations where we need to weigh the risks vs. the benefits, emotions get in the way. The article gives the example of Americans' decisions after 9/11 concerning air travel. Though the fact is that air travel is far safer than travelling by car, the fear that people felt due to terrorism made them take the riskier decisions, and as a result the death rate caused by automobile accidents went up. Whenever we feel that we are a step closer to death, we go through whatever possible to prevent it, and we often don't look at the actual facts because we are scared of what we might find out.
The more easily that we can imagine something happening, we automatically think that it is more likely to actually happen to us. Therefore our emotions distort our thinking, as they influence our rational thoughts. Media's emphasis on certain graphic images is in many cases the root problem of our lack of logical decision making.
Therefore it is good that we have emotional responses to situations, since without those emotions the human race would not be here today. But now that times have changed, we need to be able to evaluate statistics and facts more to make well-informed decisions.
If you speak multiple languages-you are a polyglot, if you do-do you think differently in one language than you do in the other?
I speak three languages- English, Urdu and French. English is my first language, and I definitely speak it more than I speak Urdu and French. I usually think in English, because it is the language that I am most comfortable with and I spend more time speaking it. I can usually express myself best in it, because it's what I've grown up speaking and I have my broadest vocabulary in it. But when I'm at home with my family, I speak Urdu. I don't often think in Urdu, though sometimes I find that I do. But as it said in the article, different languages make you think differently about different things. For example, in Russian there are different words for specific shades of colours, making Russians more observant in chromatic details than English-speakers. Urdu is a very poetic language, and Urdu poems written by famous poets are very deep and descriptive. And I find that I am often able to express my emotions better in Urdu than in English. In Urdu there are more words to describe how a person is feeling than in English, and therefore I find that in Pakistan people seem to be able to tell how others are feeling faster and better than English speakers. Also, Urdu is a very descriptive language with many sayings. I find that this is the same with French. In French some descriptions of something are entire words in itself, and in French the five senses are very important, making French people more observant of tastes and smells, I find. Therefore I agree from first-hand experience with the article that different languages make you think differently and see things differently just because of the nature of the language.