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Primary ideas from the Concept Podcast

{"ops":[{"insert":"In this video, we are encouraged to emphasize more on the concept of concepts and the reasonable way we delve into them. \nDr. Elder emphasized on the using of the concepts rather than just their meaning. She further suggests that a dictionary can be as a prelude to understanding any concepts. The role of linguistic in developing concepts are discussed. Moreover, thanks to several examples, the role of concepts as drivers in our conscious and unconscious lives becomes more explicit. For instance, having egocentric concept leads us to develop further egocentric concepts, points of view, and assumptions. Also, we apply concepts to interpret information. \nDr. Nosich emphasized on the clarity of the concepts in the contexts by asking a very helpful question” What do you mean of that?”. The question of , how do we use concepts reasonably, was another primary topic were discussed in this video.\n\nQuestion: How can we analyze a concept which has been formed emotionally rather than logically and linguistically?\n\n\n\n"}]}

Comments

Posted by: Linda Tym

{"ops":[{"insert":"Your question is so interesting, Behnam! I do think that's part of the challenge: how to take ideas and reframe them into language. Feelings/emotions can be extremely complex and are not linguistic. But I'm curious about the implication that linguistic = logical. Can emotions be logical too? This is where the thoughts/feelings/desire triad from "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The Thinker's Guide to the Human Mind"},{"insert":" is so helpful, but yet challenging! \n"}]}

Posted by: Gerald Nosich

{"ops":[{"insert":"Benham & Linda,\nAbout concepts that are formed emotionally. Here's an example. Suppose I'm someone whose father has been aggressive and mean to him throughout his childhood. Even as an adult and a proficient language-user, my concept of father can have implications of meanness and aggressiveness in it. As Linda comments, this isn't simply linguistic. It's "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conceptual"},{"insert":", and it can run far deeper than the words. Even if I analyze it, and realize that father is a neutral word that does not imply meanness or aggressiveness, that connotation can still linger. It can come up, for example, if I watch a movie in which a father is portrayed realistically as having a complication of motives. I might automatically see the father as a negative character.\n\tLinda, in her comment, wonders whether emotions can be logical. In one sense they can: I would never put it this way, but some people would say that feeling fear in the presence of a poisonous snake is \"logical,\" whereas feeling fear in the presence of a small harmless snake is \"illogical.\" In this case, \"logical\" means something like \"reasonable.\"\n\tBut in another sense, I don't think emotions can be logical or illogical. They are just occurrences. My adrenal gland starts spurting and I feel angry. That's just the way the biology works. (The same thing happens if someone artificially gets my adrenal gland to \"squirt.\") To me, a good way to look at emotions is to think of them like digestion-issues. If I eat certain foods, I'll have an upset stomach, but you may not. It's just what happens. Like gravity, it's neither logical nor illogical.\n\tBut, as Linda obliquely references, there is a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"logic to"},{"insert":" emotions. (To a certain degree there is a logic to digestion as well.) That means they have a certain intellectual structure that I can explicate using the elements of reasoning.\n"}]}

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