@MozartLink,
Other Person's Response: It could be the case that some people are enslaved by Archons, while others aren't. That's why some people in this world are unfortunate, and suffer a lot, while others are fortunate, and hardly suffer.
My Reply: Right. So, perhaps my mother's financial misfortunes are due to her being enslaved by the Archons. Her misfortunes cause her to feel negative emotions, and the Archons feed off these negative emotions.
Other Person's Response: If a person was just getting beauty, but not goodness or amazingness, wouldn't that be no way to live or be an artist? So, when a person has a feeling of beauty, shouldn't it also be a feeling of goodness or amazingness?
My Reply: I'm not sure. I know I've had feelings of beauty in regards to nature, my hobbies, etc. If I had nothing but these feelings, it wouldn't be no way to live or be an artist for me. But, is that because these feelings of beauty are also feelings of goodness or amazingness? I'm not sure. Also, I've had feelings of disgust, horror, tragedy, etc. during my miserable struggles, and they were profound feelings. But, were they also feelings of badness or horribleness?
They could've been. I'm not sure. I know I've had feelings of badness and horribleness during my miserable struggles. But, when it comes to determining whether a feeling of disgust or horror I get is also a bad or horrible feeling, it's difficult. So, if I get a certain feeling, it's difficult for me to determine whether it's a beautifully good feeling, a horribly tragic feeling, or just a beautiful feeling, or tragic feeling.
Other Person's Response: When it comes to pursuing your hobbies, you can't just have feelings of beauty. You must also feel positive emotions that motivate you to pursue your hobbies.
My Reply: Yes. Otherwise, I'd have no motivation to pursue them.
Other Person's Response: You say that physical pain, such as the pain of being punched in the face or sliced on the arm, is nothing bad or horrible, since it's just a painful feeling, and not a bad or horrible feeling. Only negative emotions can be bad or horrible, since they can be bad or horrible feelings. So, god or his angels might as well not care about those in extreme, physical pain, since their pain is nothing bad or horrible. God or his angels should only care about those suffering from negative emotions.
My Reply: But, a loving, compassionate being would still care about those in physical pain, and heal their pain. So, I disagree with what you said about god or his angels.
Other Person's Response: When jogging, go at a pace you're completely comfortable with (a pace you're not struggling to keep up). I heard that you jog for an hour each day. So, go at a pace you can keep up for an hour.
My Reply: Yes, and that pace would be very slow (3.5-3.7 mph). I went on the treadmill at the gym, and I can adjust the speed on it. This is how I know the jogging speed I can keep up for an hour. Even if I was in the mood to exercise, I don't think I'd be able to keep up a 4.0 mph jogging speed for an hour. But, being in the mood does make it easier for me to keep up a 3.5-3.7 mph jogging speed for an hour. When I'm fully recovered from this emotional crisis, I'm no longer going to jog. I'm just going to walk 3 times a week for an hour. The reason why I'm jogging everyday is because I wish to speed up my recovery.
Other Person's Response: Since you're only able to keep up a very slow jogging pace, I wonder if you're a fat person who eats a lot of junk food.
My Reply: No. I'm quite thin, and I eat healthy. By the way, there are fat people who eat a lot of junk food, and are able to keep up a decent jogging pace for an hour. So, what jogging pace a person is able to keep up all depends on his level of physical and mental endurance.
Other Person's Response: I heard that your mother is a bit obese, and does eat junk food. Is she able to jog?
My Reply: No. She's in worse shape than me. She can't even keep up a brisk walking pace like I can. She walks at a very slow pace. My fastest walking pace would be 3.5 mph, I can easily keep up that pace for an hour, and I end up being far ahead of my mother on the bike trails. She admires my walking speed, and so does my grandma. My grandma also can't jog, and she walks at a slow pace as well. Actually, my grandma's walking speed might be 3.0 mph, and my mother's being slower. I'm not sure.
Other Person's Response: If you can easily keep up a 3.5 mph walking speed for an hour, then why can't you keep up a significantly faster jogging speed for an hour (such as 4.5 mph)?
My Reply: I think it's because jogging takes more effort. So, jogging at 3.5 mph takes more effort than walking at 3.5 mph. That's why I can only keep up a 3.5-3.7 mph jogging speed for an hour. Actually, maybe I'm able to keep up a 3.8-4.0 mph jogging speed for an hour. I haven't been to the gym for a while. So, I can't go on the treadmill and find out.
Other Person's Response: You're lacking in so many areas. You're very dumb, you have a hard time understanding things, you can't decide on controversial topics, you have a poor, shallow, weak philosophy, you have very little endurance when it comes to physical exercise, etc.
My Reply: I ask myself what amazing ability I do have, despite all my weaknesses. I suspect I might have this amazing ability of naturally creating awesome music in my mind.
Other Person's Response: According to you, everyone has this ability, since everyone's brain is naturally capable of creating awesome works of art. So, if you have this ability, then it wouldn't be special or amazing, considering that everyone else has this ability.
My Reply: But, what is special and amazing is the type of music I'm creating in my mind. It's bizarre, unique music that conveys powerful and profound emotion. It's unlike the lame, stale, mediocre music that you hear on the radio all the time.
Other Person's Response: Let's pretend all possible melodies and songs existed, and I could choose any possible melody or song I wanted to share to the world that expresses the emotion and scenes I wish to express. I'd still choose to compose my own melodies and songs because composition is enjoyable for me.
My Reply: I'd actually give up composing in that situation because there'd no longer be any need for me to compose music, when all the music I'd compose would already exist, and I can just choose to share that music.
Other Person's Response: I think you're unable to pick up on the beat of a song because you're just an ignorant person. You don't know how to do it.
My Reply: Isn't it supposed to be a natural ability that doesn't need to be taught? Also, I might be able to pick up on the beat of some songs. I'm not sure.
Note to Reader: This is a recap/new summary of my philosophy of emotions. I might as well share it, since I put some effort into it. It explains why I think good, bad, beauty, horror, tragedy, etc. can only be emotions (feelings/perceptions/value judgments):
Final Summary
The only beauty and goodness that exists is the beauty and goodness we perceive. The more of it we perceive, the more of it we're getting. If someone perceived the moment with his family as beautiful and good, then he got some beauty and goodness out of that moment. His goal should be to perceive as much beauty and goodness as he can throughout his life. The more of it he perceives, the better. Perception and experience are the same thing. For example, seeing (perceiving) the color red is the same thing as experiencing red.
So, when he sees (perceives) things as beautiful and good, he's experiencing beauty and goodness in regards to those things, and that's the same thing as him having beautiful, good experiences. Our goal in life is to have as much beautiful, good, amazing, awesome, magnificent, valuable, precious, worthwhile, etc. experiences as we can (i.e. to have as much positive experiences as we can). We should avoid having negative experiences, such as bad, horrible, tragic, horrific, disturbing, pathetic, disgusting, etc. experiences.
So, that means we should avoid perceiving things as bad, horrible, etc. because, if we don't, then all we're doing is bringing ourselves the bad, horrible, etc. Even if there was a psychopath who was torturing living things, we shouldn't perceive that as bad, horrible, etc. We should instead see it as a good or beautiful thing he gets locked up in prison. Or, we could see it as a good or beautiful thing that he's torturing those living things. Either way, we're getting beauty and goodness out of it.
Now that I've established that life's all about getting the positive perceptions/experiences, and avoiding the negative ones, emotions are the only perceptions of good, bad, beauty, horror, tragedy, value, worth, etc. An example of some emotions would be a feeling of panic from being in a dangerous situation, a feeling of horror, a feeling of joy or excitement, a feeling of sexual arousal, a feeling of misery, etc. There are the positive emotions (pleasant emotions), and they're the positive perceptions/experiences we need.
Then, there are the negative emotions (unpleasant emotions), and they're the negative perceptions/experiences we should avoid. We can't perceive anything as good, bad, beautiful, horrific, etc. through reason (thinking) alone. In other words, just thinking or believing that something is good, bad, etc. wouldn't allow us to see that thing as good, bad, etc. That thought or belief needs to make us feel good, bad, etc. in regards to that thing in order for us to see it as good, bad, etc. It would be like how reason alone doesn't allow us to see (perceive) the color red.
Just having the thought or belief of red isn't a perception of red, and just having the thought or belief that something is good, bad, etc. isn't a perception of goodness, badness, etc. in regards to that thing. My personal experience has led me to this conclusion because I can clearly tell that my emotions are the only perceptions of good, bad, etc. In addition, I can clearly tell that the only way someone or something can matter to me or bother me is through my emotions, and not through reason alone.
That's because the only way I can perceive someone or something as mattering or bothersome would be through my emotions. As a matter of fact, if everyone had no ability to feel emotions, then we'd all be apathetic. We couldn't care about anyone or anything, and neither could we perceive anyone or anything as good, bad, frightening, sad, sexually attractive, morbid, etc. But, emotions are fleeting, transient things. Especially positive emotions, since so many people in this world are depressed, apathetic, and unhappy.
That means these people are hardly getting the positive experiences they need out of life. A life without positive emotions is no way to live or be an artist, and there's nothing better to live for than feeling positive emotions because there's nothing better in life than having positive experiences. I, myself, have had many miserable struggles, which were caused by devastating worries. These struggles have disabled my ability to feel positive emotions, and I couldn't make myself feel positive emotions through reason alone, since there's a difference between reason and emotion.
Likewise, if a person had insomnia, he couldn't make himself feel sleepy through reason alone because there's a difference between reason and feeling sleepy. So, thinking positive is different than feeling positive, and the thought of being sleepy is different than feeling sleepy. During my miserable struggles, I could only have negative experiences, since I could only feel negative emotions. These negative emotions were caused by these miserable struggles. I also had no emotional drive to pursue my composing dream. So, my composing couldn't matter to me, and neither could I perceive it as valuable, good, beautiful, or worthwhile.
That's why I had to give up composing until I was fully recovered from these miserable struggles. That way, my emotional drive would return. Even if I felt negative emotions that motivated me to compose during my miserable struggles, that would still be no way to live or be an artist, since I'd be getting negative experiences and not positive ones. I realize there were miserable, genius artists who felt a lot of negative emotions, and inspired the world through their artwork. But, the audience would be getting positive experiences, since they're able to feel positive emotions from witnessing the artwork, while these genius artists would hardly be getting any.
When bringing others positive emotions, whether it be through helping others or inspiring others through artwork, we need to feel positive emotions in doing so because we need to perceive that endeavor as positive (as good, valuable, beautiful, etc.). In other words, when bringing others positivity, we need to get positivity out of doing so. So, that means life's really all about our own positive emotions because life's all about feeling positive emotions from pursuing any given endeavor, whether it be helping others, doing our hobbies, exercising, etc.
Lastly, here's the emotion perception theory that's been put forth by emotion theorists. This theory explains how emotions are perceptions of good, bad, etc. Since the only good, bad, etc. that exists is the good, bad, etc. we perceive, and since emotions are the only perceptions of good, bad, etc., then that means good, bad, etc. can only be emotions. That means feeling good is the only good thing in life, and feeling bad is the only bad thing in life, regardless of what things and situations we feel good or bad about. Emotions are the only things that can make people, situations, and moments good, bad, etc. for us. Anyway, here's that emotion perception theory:
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Are emotions perceptions of value?
Jérôme Dokic &Stéphane Lemaire
Pages 227-247 | Received 13 Mar 2013, Accepted 29 May 2013, Published online: 03 Sep 2013
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https://doi.org/10.1080/00455091.2013.826057
AbsracAb
A popular idea at present is that emotions are perceptions of values. Most defenders of this idea have interpreted it as the perceptual thesis that emotions present (rather than merely represent) evaluative states of affairs in the way sensory experiences present us with sensible aspects of the world. We argue against the perceptual thesis. We show that the phenomenology of emotions is compatible with the fact that the evaluative aspect of apparent emotional contents has been incorporated from outside. We then deal with the only two views that can make sense of the perceptual thesis.
On the response–dependence view, emotional experiences present evaluative response-dependent properties (being fearsome, being disgusting, etc.) in the way visual experiences present response-dependent properties such as colors. On the response–independence view, emotional experiences present evaluative response-independent properties (being dangerous, being indigestible, etc.), conceived as ‘Gestalten’ independent of emotional feelings themselves. We show that neither view can make plausible the idea that emotions present values as such, i.e., in an open and transparent way. If emotions have apparent evaluative contents, this is in fact due to evaluative enrichments of the non-evaluative presentational contents of emotions.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00455091.2013.826057?scroll=top&needAccess=true
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Some people disagree with this emotion perception theory. But, I have to agree with it, based upon my personal experience. Also, here's a quote by a famous philosopher (Hume): "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them." When Hume talks about passions, he’s referring to emotions. Here’s the definition of passion online: “In philosophy and religion, the passions are the instinctive, emotional, primitive drives in a human being (including, for example, lust, anger, aggression and jealousy) which a human being must restrain, channel, develop, and sublimate in order to be possessed of wisdom.”
