Powell 1

Chloe Powell
Miss Nye
English 10
14 March 2014

Human Emotions
All people experience emotions; it is just a fact of life. Every day people feel different emotions,
yet the cause of these feelings is a mystery to some. Human emotions are the building blocks of a
persons life that determine many of his or her actions, though the complexity of it all and what triggers
or causes these emotions can be summarized into three categories: other peoples actions towards
oneself, events that happen throughout the day, and ones own thoughts and feelings. People argue
that one of these causes could be the main trigger for ones emotions, but others believe that it is a
carefully balanced mixture of all of them combined. As I researched this topic I found some very
interesting theories about the cause of human emotion, but they were all just theories nothing has been
proven yet.
As I mentioned before, the first cause that has been theorized by scientists is other peoples
actions toward us. For instance, if someone one cares about, such as a friend, does something wrong or
in their eyes rude to offend them, then that person would most likely feel anger or frustration towards
that person. For years, scientists have always leaned towards this basic concept when the controversial
question of the cause of an emotion arose. We would all like to think that others cause our emotions
but modern science has said otherwise.
An event that happens throughout the day is another theorized cause of the emotions we feel. If
one were having a bad day due to the collective bad things that happen, ones emotion may become
depressed or sad. This may cause them to have physical responses, such as cry.
Powell 2


Emotions are complex and have both physical and mental components. Generally researchers
agree that emotions have the following parts: subjective feelings, physiological (body) responses, and
expressive behavior (Emotions). As that quotation simply states, emotions are complex. Those that
cause body responses are different than those that are just feelings. When emotions or feelings become
very strong a person may, in turn, physically respond to whatever is causing that emotion. The last
category for the cause of human emotion is ones own thoughts. This one can be a bit more confusing
because everyone thinks in a different way. Emotions are caused by one's thoughts. They are both
triggered by one's thoughts and programmed by one's thoughts. The triggering is straightforward to
show: hearing the words rape, murder, death, or genocide, etc., one experiences an emotion. Hearing
the same words in an unknown language, the words would be meaningless. One would not be able to
make the mental connection between the sounds and the meaning of the words. The emotions that one
normally feels with respect to these words would not be present. Only understanding can trigger an
emotion (Landauer).
Emotions are the reason for understanding. Since fear is one of the stronger emotions, we
connect fear with things. If a robber burst into a room with a gun, people would be afraid, however, if
someone in the room did not know what a gun was, then that person would not be afraid. If they
realized that a gun were harmful, then they would understand the situation, and also begin to feel
afraid. Also, often people that have not yet experienced love think that they are in love, but cannot be
sure because they have never felt that way before. Once they understand what love is, they can confirm
their feelings. Yet, it is important to know the difference between feelings and emotions. Love is a
feeling not an emotion, while fear is an emotion. Emotions can be understood as either states or as
processes. When understood as a state (like being angry or afraid), an emotion is a type of mental state
Powell 3

that interacts with other mental states and causes certain behaviors (Johnson). To simplify, emotions
have to do with our mental health, not our soul.
When people say control your emotions, it is not entirely possible. It is like telling the sun not
to rise. You can tell it not to, but no matter what it will happen. The rational role of emotions depends
on the fact that our control over them is limited (Greenspan). We have some control, but not complete.
Perhaps the only way to control ones emotions is to understand them. I could tell myself not to be so
sad, but that will not change the fact that my brain does what it wants and feels that way, but if I sit
down and try to understand the real reason for my sadness, I could potentially fix that problem, and
become happier.
The fact that all of these theories combined could also be the cause of ones emotions is another
thing to think about. Throughout a whole day one experiences so many things, that all of them
combined must be the cause. I, for one, think that personally one cause of my emotions outweighs the
others, yet the others do play a role and factor in to my over all emotion.
In conclusion, human emotions are complex and indifferent. No clear cause has been defined as
to why we experience them, only theories. It is hard to say what the root cause could be since everyone
is different. I took a survey of 25 people, and all but three people said that they would consider
themselves an emotional person (Powell). This tells me that people can identify their emotion, yet they
cannot always determine what it is that they are feeling. Whether it be a feeling or a mood. Emotions
mold us to be who we are and are the building blocks of everyones life. Without them we would not be
where we are and we would not understand one another.


Powell 4

Works Cited
"Emotions." Human Disease and Conditions (2014). Web. 28 Feb 2014.
<http://www.humanillnesses.com/Behavioral-Health-Br-Fe/Emotions.html>.
Greenspan, Patricia. "Practical Reasoning and Emotion." (2002). Web. 28 Feb 2014.
<http://faculty.philosophy.umd.edu/PGreenspan/Res/prem.html>.
Johnson, Gregory. "Theories of Emotion." Internet Encylopedia of Philosophy. Web. 28 Feb
2014. <http://www.iep.utm.edu/emotion/>.
Landauer, Jeff. "Emotions: The Automatic Responses." (2001). Importance of Philosophy. Web.
28 Feb 2014.
Powell, Chloe. Survey of SJHS students. 28 May 2014.