Re: Emotion Selection

KPJ (kpj@sics.se)
Mon, 12 Jul 1999 14:28:30 +0200

KPJ <kpj@sics.se> wrote:
|
|0. If I can replace the emotion FEAR with a "WARNING: DANGER" function which
| works as fast (=at a low level) as FEAR does, then I would replace it. I
| regard any person irresponsible who simply removes FEAR without replacing
| it with some other safeguard.

It appears as if Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
|
|The question is then if this improved fear isn't just fear. The
|valence of an experience such as pain can be changed through mental
|discipline; maybe it is better to change the valence of fear rather
|than removing the emotion (given the problems people with Kluver-Bucy
|amygdala damage have just due to their fearfulness, it seems to be a
|good idea).

FEAR is the little mind-killer.
I prefer to have FEAR under rational control. ``Improved'' FEAR (FEAR-2) would then not be identical to the FEAR version.

BTW, who has shown that the Kluver-Bucy syndrome exists in humans?

|Having a rousing emotion for dangerous situations is useful. The
|problem is that we just have a general purpose fear that is best tuned
|for physical danger. I think we might have more use with developing
|two more kinds of fear-reactions, one for social dangers and one for
|purely rational dangers, without all the body reactions that distract
|us.

I wonder how many could drive a car if their survival systems signalled:

**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY
**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY
**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY
**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY
**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY
**WARNING**  YOU CAN DIE IF YOU LOSE CONTROL AT THIS VELOCITY

Currently fear works very much like this, overriding rational thought.

Naturally, if one removed this override function, one would also want to increase one's processing speed to handle any emergency situations which required _immediate_ response.

[...]

KPJ:
|4. I would also remove various irrational emotions, such as envy and jealosy.

[Anders:]
|I think it is important to make a distinction between the desire for
|having something good that somebody else possess and the desire to
|remove the thing from his possession. The first state can be
|stimulating to achieve more ("KPJ has a wearable! Great idea! I must
|get one too!"), but in zero-sum situations it easily leads to the
|second, destructive state. So we better refine envy and make sure the
|world is positive-sum.
|
|(Hmm, what are the proper english words for these two states? In
|Swedish it is likely "avund" and "missunsamhet" - trust the Swedes to
|have subtle nuances for envy :-)

I believe your concept division lacks support in common usage.

E.g. in the list of "seven death sins"

English: pride, envy, wrath, sloth, lust, greed, and gluttony.

^^^^

Swedish: högmod, avund, vrede, lättja, vällust, girighet och frosseri.


		 ^^^^^^