Sometimes I'm Spock

Psychologists and neuroscientists alike are always trying to come up with theories to explain how we experience the world.  And one of our key components is emotion.  Perhaps you're a fan of the Cannon-Bard theory.  It's the typical idea that "I see a bear, process it as a threat, and then my heart rate begins to pick up."

The Dripping Springs Color Guard my senior year of
high school.  What a fantastic family!

I like to think of the time when I first heard that my high school band won State Championships.  I was standing with my fellow drum majors and color guard lieutenant when they finally gave the score and the big trophy to Dripping Springs Tiger Band.  My brain went something like, we won.  We Won. WE WON! And eventually I felt myself begin to bounce on the balls of my feet with glee.  As my brain bathed in dopamine, I jumped and screamed with my bandmates as they stormed the field in jubilation.

But to be honest, the Cannon-Bard theory doesn't really do it for me.  Maybe I'm part vulcan as my family seems to believe.  (I did have very pointy ears as a child....)  But most of my emotion comes after the fact.

Let's take the generic instance (which could apply to many people) of my interactions with a boy.  We hang out, become close friends, and then I start to notice something.  Every time I'm near this boy, I feel a flush in my cheeks.  My heart, just barely noticeable, begins to pump a bit faster.  I started to notice I would cross my legs the same way as him and lean in whenever we were seated across the table.

Taken altogether, I could see that I liked him.  But it took my own physiological reactions to realize it.  I had to physically feel before my emotions would catch up.  This embodies the James-Lange theory.  In other words, we perceive a stimulus, our body starts to physically react, and then our mind interprets those changes as specific emotions.  I tend to see this almost as a Spock hypothesis.  We have to interpret our own emotions to really see what's going on.  Just like the fictional character from Star Trek, I can't always decipher others' reactions, more or less my own.  I wonder if I bleed green? (*Vulcans have copper-based blood so they bleed green)

Live Long and Prosper

But back to the real science.  Current research says the truth is somewhere between these two theories.  It's a mixture, depending on the situation, types of emotions evoked, and other things.  But until I learn anything definitive, I'm sticking with the belief that I'm a relative of Spock.