Post by omorson on Nov 2, 2017 2:35:41 GMT
Damasio uses the 'whistle a happy tune' example to illustrate the point that if we change our physical state it can affect our mental/emotional state. The concept is that when we experience an emotion there are physical manifestations, such as elevated heart rate, sweating ext., but the idea suggested here is we can use the physical markers of an emotion to illicit one. So if I'm afraid and I whistle a happy tune I will in turn be happy. He does back that claim up by citing Ekman's study wherein people made a series of (directed) expressions associated with a particular emotion (they had no knowledge of) and they reported to have started to feel that emotion as a consequence.