Why do some people cry and show emotion (especially publically)? Personally, I find it embarassing and useless. Do human beings need these "weak emotions" to succeed? I don't believe so.
Only pointing out... Just imagine if Joe Smith (made em up) didn't cry every time he lost his lunch money. Is that sort of emotion helpful in any way? And this question is for you: Do these emotions make us human? Not necessarily. Not at all really in my opinion. Remember: Don't cry over spilt milk.
Why do you consider those emotions weak?? That sounds like a sign of insecurity to me, which is the truly weak thing. Strong people are able to cry in public and think nothing of it, because they're as comfortable around other people as they are around themselves. But anyways, could you tell me why you consider it a sign of weakness?? I'm interested...
I consider it a sign of weakness because such public display is really unnecessar and shows a lack of inner strength to other people. Why cry when you bump your knee? Is it necessary? Why wince when the doctor gives you a shot? Is it necessary? Is it even helpful? All hale the alpha male!
But how does not crying have anything to do with inner-strength? Doesn't it show nothing more than lack of complex emotion or the ability to express oneself? Those are both the qualities of a machine FYI, Its not necessary, but it does ease the suffering because you're moderating your brain with less traumatizing signals and stimulating for the release of adrenaline...and adrenaline buildup causes crying. Self-control, or suppression? It might not be nice to burst out into tears at a friends party, but to hold them back around people you know and trust? Big & tough hockey players only do that around the media.
totally agree with you there, Xerxes, you pretty much said everything I wanted to say yeah how is crying a "weak emotion" or a "sign of lacking inner-strength" we humans do in fact have a wide variety of emotions, and we express them in appropriate situations. and I don't know what people are you referring to, because for a baby, crying is definitely the most essential and only way he/she has to express him/herself I understand that some may think crying gets annoying after a while, but it is also a way humans use to gather compassion and sympathy from people, it's a method we use to socially and emotionally connect with others.
Homo sapiens is a social animal, and like other social animals, they require ways of signaling emotion to other members of the group, in order that the group can all stay on the same page. Crying is one of the signals, that's all. It has nothing to do with "strength" or obscure cultural values such as "masculinity" or "wussiness", just with "signaling". It's helpful for the survival value of the group as a whole if Member A stubs his toe on a rock in the path and starts to cry, because it serves to alert the rest of the group that there's a rock there, watch out for it. If you're on the ground clutching your injured toe, you're easy prey for a predator, so it's helpful to know there's a rock in the path. There is also survival value for the group in sharing strong emotions like joy and sorrow through weeping. It provides an outlet to demonstrate group solidity, with everyone grieving (or rejoicing) together. And the more solid the group, the more attuned to each other they are, the safer they are.
I was looking at more of a "survival of the fittest" point of view. Emotions that are not necessary needn't be. I'm not talking about inability to express but rather doing away with the "superfluous". And what is not necessary is superflous. I called this "weakness" so sue me. If you burst into tears when you don't have to, when it's not going to be productive, ultimately because you can't control it then it has become master over you. Which is the "weakness" I was talking about.
why do you consider crying embrassing, as many others in the society do? I don't know why society views it embrassing, but it is most certainly very important and expressive under many circumstances. and why should you "control" emotions like crying? it's not like rage or anything, which hurts other people. If a person controls his/her grieving feelings and prevents him/herself from expressing any emotions that help to overcome the grieve, the person can end up with very serious psychological disorders and conditions that are difficult to reverse
i think it's our dna that makes us human. and yes! men ought to be more like machines, if that means not crying - which wholly inappropriate for a grown man to do at any time other than when he is shot or stabbed or has recieved serious injury to some very important part of his [physical] body. *shame i had to use italics, but there is no sarcasm tag. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! * seriously though people, men shouldn't cry, at least not in american "culture". personally, i agree with that sentiment.
I smile in the face of a bullet wound to my chest. Just like this ==> Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! @eddymrsci Internal grieving is possible you know.. If you've ever been given the silent treatment you'll know what I mean.. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! What are the chances of ending up with these "serious psychological disorders" if you keep your emotions to yourself? I've done it for the greater part of my life and I'm as sane as a bee.. I think this sort of repression helps to remove focus from the distracting "episode" of loss, failure or whatever and speeds up "recovery", which also needn't be if there was no such mourning in the first place. Apparently no one sees the benefits of stoicism..
southstar, Let me put it this way --If the emotions are there, they have to go somewhere. Its like having gas. You can supress it and allow it to build up, or you can release at an appropriate time, or in front of your friends... You can't simply 'control' it, because then you wouldn't have the gastronomic-or psychological- anatomy of a human. You see, our psyches, like our intenstines, are structured in a way that is central to our existence. Change the structure and you're no longer human. You aren't a mammal either. Probably closer to the cold blooded lizard which doesn't have complex emotions, and *even he* is headed out the evolutionary door. Gas, like emotions, can be inconvenient, but if you don't have them then you can't appreciate what it means to be human. And you can't build on the strengths which complex emotion gives us over the lizard. eddymrsci brings up a good point: it's not like rage or anything Now rage is something that can be considered an awful thing. It takes all rationality out of the picture and replaces it with confusion. RAGE results from suppressed emotion. Humans become confused if they supress their emotions etc etc.. do you see what I'm getting at?
what makes you say that? and i don't see where you have indicated the survival advantage conferred upon human beings as a result of our having "complex emotions".
"complex emotions" make humans & mammals more capable of controlling their surroundings. It's the whole 'art' thing which seems pretty useless, but it is definately not. Its the basis for modern civilization and the strength of our species. lizards are only of capable of manipulating their position and appearance inside their surroundings, and thats fine in an earth with a thick, unchanging atmosphere and plenty of rainforests where that specialization comes in handy, but those times are over now and the mammals are higher on the food chain.
True leaders and "stong" men do not show weakness and emotions in front of people. This stems from primitave days of alpha males in tribes. However, these leaders or alpha males did confront their emotions in provate.
if you have to cry, cry - then move on. concern over whether or not it's in public is secondary to the truth of your emotional state. you might choose to question what emotional problems lead you to cry in public a lot if you find that happening, but otherwise as I said above I'd guess.
being sad does not mean you need to cry. i have managed to convert my sadness into anger, which i can expel with a bit of sport. go sublimation! could this civilization not arise if humans were without these "complex emotions"? i would think it is the species' ability to detect patterns in nature and establish procedures to yield predictable results which has brought us to this point. in so far as controlling surroundings is concerned, i would agree that anger or sadness makes a person more capable of tossing a lamp at me, but i do not think it would aid in the planning of a house or bridge. and art isn't useless? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
emotions are often displaced and are a cause of chaos, logic and necessity is what advances the human race.
