Think Feel Act

December 19th, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Feeling, Intuition, Pain |

Feelings (and intuitions) exist in order to motivate action, or to shape an action that will inevitably take place in some form. We feel pain in order to motivate us to make an action that will remove the source of that pain. Feelings are the result of cognitive processes, some of which are conscious, some of which are non-conscious. Pain is the result of non-conscious processing; we feel the pain but we are not consciously aware of the ‘thoughts’ which led up to this feeling. Other feelings can be induced by consciously thinking certain thoughts, or looking at certain images, or carrying out certain actions which produce thoughts. These thoughts may produce feelings; we think sad thoughts and the result is that we feel sad. So we might entertain a thought that will produce a feeling that will in turn motivate or shape an action. Simple feelings motivate simple actions, and are produced by simple thoughts. Complex feelings motivate complex actions and are produced by complex thoughts.