Quote Originally Posted by ZinniaZ View Post
Hey there.
No rolly eyes necessary.

It is possible to have a conversation about the definitions, personal vs scientific of what exactly emotion IS. I'm not threatening your world view. I'm not saying you are wrong. I am questioning the definition itself. You say emotion is the chemical cascade. I say emotion is a construct, chemical cascade or NO. The chemicals are what we experience. I am questioning whether that experience is the only definition of emotion and whether what we define as emotion is in fact only a reaction to stress, to security, to fear.

People all over discuss anthropomorphism in all species of animals and believe (some) that no animals save hum,ans have the capacity for emotion. I challenge that. I challenge that humans have the monopoly on emotion and in fact whether we have actual emotion or of we have invented words only to set ourselves apart from the animals. We ARE animals. I believe that the concept of anthropomorphism is overzealously used.

You can talk about brain structure and chemistry. Yes the brains are different. But that does not mean that our concept of emotion, feeling, perception is unassailable. Is emotion instinct? Maybe. Is emotion anything but human made? Maybe not. These things are worth discussing without derision.
If you are saying that emotion is not just a physiological process, then what is it? You are heading in an almost spiritual direction with this that is pointless to have a discussion about because you have nothing more to offer us than just your own thoughts and feelings. Thats great that you feel that way, but don't expect anyone to level with you when you can't provide any substance to back it up beyond your own thoughts. I can prove that reptiles don't have the parts of the brain needed to experience emotion as you define it. How can you even begin to support your 'feeling' that emotion might be more than a biological process? You are trying to argue the existence of something for which there is no tangible evidence for. The only 'evidence' that you've provided this far is your own anthropomorphism of snake's behavior....