I haven’t overlooked the many reasons one can use to argue against the usefulness of having feelings: The muddled clarity and encumbered logic being the first example that comes to mind, and it is very obvious that a lot of people suffer more from their ability to feel than they find strength, Happiness or entertainment from it.
In that sense I can understand why some people come to the conclusion that:
“It would be better and easier if I was a Sociopath or a Psychopath!”
Nevertheless I stand to my statement: I’m happy and absolutely pleased that I have emotions and that I can feel.
But as I say above, I haven’t overlooked the less pleasurable aspects and I’m aware that some amount of discomfort follows with having feelings. It cannot be helped.
Yet, as far as my personal experiences with having feelings go, the positive outweighs the negative.
Sure, one sometimes do run into situations which brings with them feelings that that are less than pleasant – and sometimes outright painful, though this applies mostly to physical pain – at least for me, but I realize it is different for each individual, be they Psychopaths or non-psychopaths. And yes, I have certainly experienced very unpleasant emotions on several occasions, on and off throughout my life.
But to me it is at least partially a question of being able to make the decision to let unpleasant feelings of the past remain feelings of the past. I mean, to not allow your suffering from the past to rule and dominate you and your feelings in the present.
In other words: To be able to …
… Let go!
Maybe I’m just really a very, very lucky person in that respect: As I mentioned, I do experience pain and painful emotions every now and then. But the recurring pattern – as I see it – is that such feelings are almost always very brief! This means that even if I sometimes have moments with painful emotions, I know from experience, if nothing else, that it won’t last long.
Every now and then – usually very rarely and for many only once in a life time, if ever – extreme physical pain can last for a lengthy period, fx. months. On such occasions I haven’t had time to ponder whether or not I’d rather feel nothing, I could think only about wanting to get rid of that specific pain I was feeling at that time. But of course it didn’t change anything. I had no choice but to go through it, and through it I got.
The point here is, that once it is over and done with, once it is in the past, I no longer care about it having been there. It is just not a problem, and even the prospect of having to go through the same thing again does not really affect me. Again, I know it will pass…
I’ve made a thought experiment: What if such a situation never ended and I knew I would have to continue being in that situation for as long as I live? – The obvious answer would be: “I’d kill myself!”, but then I went further … What if I had no way that I or others could end my life prematurely? And my reaction is this: Well I can’t really worry about it, because if such a thing should happen, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway, and hence it really is not a problem!
And that’s another way that I see feelings can be an asset and not necessarily a disadvantage: I can mostly switch my ability to feel on and off at will.
This ability allows me to switch off my feelings when I’m in a situation where I sense they may interfere with my ability to reason and act effectively. potentially counter my opponent/s position or attack.
I can choose not to worry!
This is how I see it, and this is how I feel!…
Yep, I quite do like my feelings!!…
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