The power of emotions

To the Editor:
    Some fascinating research in 2006 by Drew Westen examined what exactly happens inside our brains when we receive new information that doesn’t fit with our world view.

    When confronted with data that contradicts our biases, our brains actually under processes that information: the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for conscious reasoning, hardly even fires. Instead, the emotional circuits of our brains are lit up.
    So, it appears that our brains use emotions to ignore information we don’t like to hear but we can’t discount intellectually.
    This research helps me realize why arguments that trigger emotions have so much more power to influence peoples’ “thinking” and behavior than facts do.
    To reduce our instant emotional reactions and allow for more conscious reasoning on the serious problems we face, perhaps we could try simply slowing down our deliberations.
    It’s exciting to see how many area people are becoming civically involved in local and regional issues (such as food production, economic instabilities, the proposed East-West corridor, etc.), and I think now might be a good time to look at how we talk with each other, to solve problems instead of having to win or lose a contest.

Sam Brown
Cambridge