AWARENESS
PLUMBING THE UNCONSCIOUS
ELLIOT'S EMOTIONAL VACUITY SUGGESTS THAT THERE MAY BE A SPECTRUM OF PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO SENSE THEIR EMOTIONS AS THEY HAVE THEM. BY THE LOGIC OF NEUROSCIENCE, IF THE ABSENCE OF A NEUTRAL CIRCUIT LEADS TO A DEFICIT IN AN ABILITY, THEN THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS OF THAT SAME CIRCUIT IN PEOPLE WHOSE BRAINS ARE INTACT SHOULD LEAD TO COMPARABLE LEVELS OF COMPETENCE IN THAT SAME ABILITY. IN TERMS OF THE ROLE OF PREFRONTAL CIRCUITS IN EMOTIONAL ATTUNEMENT, THIS SUGGESTS THAT FOR NEOTROLOGICAL REASONS SOME OF US MAY MORE EASILY DETECT THE STIRRING OF FEAR OR JOY THAN DO OTHERS, AND SO BE MORE EMOTIONALLY SELF-AWARE.
IT MAY BE THAT A TALENT FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL INTROSPECTION HINGES ON THIS SAME CIRCUITRY. SOME OF US ARE NATURALLY MORE ATTUNED TO THE EMOTIONAL MIND'S SPECIAL SYMBOLIC MODES, METAPHOR AND SIMILE, ALONG WITH POETRY, SONG, AND FABLE, ARE ALL CAST IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE HEART. SO TOO ARE DREAMS AND MYTHS, IN WHICH LOOSE ASSOCIATES DETERMINE THE FLOW OF NARRATIVE, ABIDING BY THE LOGIC OF THE EMOTIONAL MIND. THOSE WHO HAVE A NATURAL ATTUNEMENT TO THEIR OWN HEART'S VOICE - THE LANGUAGE OF EMOTION - ARE SURE TO BE MORE ADEPT AT ARTICULATING ITS MESSAGES, WHETHER AS A NOVELIST, SONGWRITER, OR PSYCHOTHERAPIST. THIS INNER ATTUNEMENT SHOULD MAKE THEM MORE GIFTED IN GIVING VOICE TO THE "WISDOM OF THE UNCONSCIOUS" - THE FELT MEANINGS OF OUR DREAMS AND FANTASIES, THE SYMBOLS THAT EMBODY OUR DEEPEST WISHES.
SELF-AWARENESS IS FUNDAMENTAL TO PSYCHOLOGICAL INSIGHT, THIS IS THE FACULTY THAT MUCH FOR INTRAPSYCHIC INTELLIGENCE IS SIGMUND FREUD, THE GREAT MAPPER OF THE PSYCHE'S SECRET DYNAMICS. AS FREUD MADE CLEAR, MUCH OF EMOTIONAL LIFE IS UNCONSCIOUS, FEELINGS THAT STIR WITHIN US DO NOT ALWAYS CROSS THE THRESHOLD INTO AWARENESS, EMPIRICAL VERIFICATION OF THIS PSYCHOLOGICAL AXIOM COMES, FOR INSTANCE, FROM EXPERIMENTS ON UNCONSCIOUS EMOTIONS, SUCH AS THE REMARKABLE FINDING THAT PEOPLE FORM DEFINITE LIKINGS FOR THINGS THEY DO NOT EVEN REALIZE THEY HAVE SEEN BEFORE. ANY EMOTION CAN BE - AND OFTEN IS - UNCONSCIOUS.
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS OF AN EMOTION TYPICALLY OCCUR BEFORE A PERSON IS CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF THE FEELING ITSELF. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN PEOPLE WHO FEAR SNAKES ARE SHOWN PICTURES OF SNAKES, SENSORS ON THEIR SKIN WILL DETECT SWEAT BREAKING OUT, A SIGN OF ANXIETY, THOUGH THEY SAY THEY DO NOT FEEL ANY FEAR. THE SWEAT SHOWS UP IN SUCH PEOPLE EVEN WHEN THE PICTURE OF A SNEAK IS PRESENTED SO RAPIDLY THAT THEY HAVE NO CONSCIOUS IDEA OF WHAT, EXACTLY, THEY JUST SAW, LET ALONE THAT THEY ARE BEGINNING TO GET ENXIOUS. AN SUCH PRECONSCIOUS EMOTIONAL STIRRINGS CONTINUE TO BUILD, THEY EVENTUALLY BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK INTO AWARENESS. THUS THERE ARE TWO LEVELS OF EMOTIONS, CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS. THE MOMENT OF AN EMOTION COMING INTO AWARENESS MARKS ITS REGISTERING AS SUCH IN THE FRONTAL CORTEX.
EMOTIONS THAT SIMMER BENEATH THE THRESHOLD OF AWARENESS CAN HAVE A POWERFUL IMPACT ON HOW WE PERCEIVE AND REACT, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE NO IDEA THEY ARE AT WORK. TAKE SOMEONE WHO IS ANNOYED BY A RUDE ENCOUNTER EARLY IN THE DAY, AND THEN IS PEEVISH FOR HOURS AFTERWARD, TAKING AFFRONT WHERE NONE IS INTENTED AND SNAPPING AT PEOPLE FOR NO REAL REASON. HE MAY WELL BE OBVIOUS TO HIS CONTINUING IRRITABILITY AND WILL BE SURPRISED IF SOMEONE CALLS ATTENTION TO IT, THOUGH IT STEWS JUST OUT OF HIS AWARENESS AND DICTATES HIS CURT REPLIES. BUT ONCE THAT REACTION IS BROUGHT INTO AWARENESS - ONCE IT REGISTERS IN THE CORTEX- HE CAN EVALUATE THINGS ANEW, DECIDE TO SHRUG OFF THE FEELINGS LEFT EARLIER IN THE DAY, AND CHANGE HIS OUTLOOK AND MOOD. IN THIS WAY EMOTIONAL SELF-AWARENESS IS THE BUILDING BLOCK OF THE NEXT FUNDAMENTAL OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE BEING ABLE TO SHAKE OFF A BAD MOOD.
