On Facebook, one reader said that he doesn't believe
in controlling emotions, because humans are sad by nature. I suppose considering
that we’re all doomed to die, we have good reasons to be sad, if you think
about it. Thinking about it, however, doesn't need to involve an emotional
response. And the fact that our lives end is a fact, an emotionally neutral
fact. Interpreting this fact through sadness, I believe is a cultural
phenomenon. But I don’t like abstract philosophical concepts, and practically
speaking, none of our emotions is perfect. These imperfections are implemented
in each emotion by design, and their purpose is to create a pathway through
which you can change your mind. For example, imagine that you wish to buy a
car. Let's suppose you really want one particular model, and thinking about it excites you,
makes you happy. But then you discover something about that car’s flaws, and
you no longer want it. You no longer feel joy when you’re thinking about it. Note
that there’s nothing about the car that would suggest an emotional response. The
emotion that you’d experience is entirely internally generated in your mind. In
order for such a shift in emotions to take place, your mind turns off the joy
that it had attached to the idea of the car and replaced it with a new one. Your
mind can turn off an emotion because any emotion always contains defects, which
your mind uses to turn your emotions off. These defects also allow you to turn
off any emotion that bothers you, either temporarily or, with many repetitions,
permanently.
