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Ambrosius
@ambrosius
What is it about sadness that gives a sense of realness to life. Why does happiness feel comparatively fake? Maybe my question is wrong. Maybe I’m comparing a state of deep emotion (sadness) with a state of superficial emotion (contentness). But even feelings of Euphoria can feel superficial in retrospect
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Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
There may be a neurological explanation. “Transient sadness and happiness affect different brain regions in divergent directions and are not merely opposite activity in identical brain regions”. George et al. (1995). https://doi.org/gjhnf9 cc: our resident neuroscientist @christin
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christin
@christin
Fascinating paper! I’m not sure if the current state of research tells us very much about the “trueness” of emotional states, since that’s more of a metaphysical question… I feel the opposite though, that happiness (or perhaps equanimity) is more real than sadness…
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Ambrosius
@ambrosius
Very interesting thanks for sharing! Could only read the abstract, the neurological evidence supports what I’ve always thought; that happiness and sadness are not opposite. Both can be beautiful experiences in their own way. I’d prefer sadness to a feeling of numbness, agitation, deep anxiety or depression any time
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