The Formation of Human Feelings: A Comprehensive Overview

The world of feelings, shaped by personal experiences, drives the study of brain science and intertwines with various aspects of life.

### The Role of Feelings in Decision-Making: Insights from Brain Science and Personal Experience
* 🧠 Antonio Damasio's research highlights the importance of **feelings in decision-making**, even in court cases, showing how they are **formed and their components**.
* 🔍 Damasio's study of a bank employee with a brain tumor demonstrated that the **absence of emotions can impair judgment and decision-making**.
* 🤝 Our ability to quickly detect trustworthiness or deception in others, even if we can't explain it, is a **crucial aspect of human intuition**.
* 🧭 Feelings are a complex interplay of sensory input, survival responses, bodily feedback, cortical arousal, and memories, with **memory being the most significant component**.
* 📚 Personal experiences, such as **encountering the sea in childhood** and **reading influential books in university**, have a lasting impact on one's **feelings and decision-making**.
* 🌌 The speaker's interest in brain science was influenced by encounters with poets, experiences in astronomy, and a **deep appreciation for the world of feelings**.
* 📚 The integration of personal beauty, poetry, and religious experiences provided momentum for a wide range of studies, highlighting the **importance of feelings in shaping life paths**.

That person somehow doesn't inspire trust. We can't explain it, but we know right away. Why do we use the word somehow in front of it? We can't explain it specifically, but I have a general feeling about it. This feeling has been significantly highlighted in brain science, largely based on the research findings of Antonio Damasio. He has revealed how our feelings are formed and what their components are. In his book, the first component of feeling is discussed. The emergence of feelings in brain science has been largely established through Damasio's research, which is now even applied in court to some extent, particularly in criminal psychology. Damasio discovered how feelings are fundamentally important. For instance, in 1970, there was a young bank employee who lost his job and was seeking unemployment benefits.

그는 자신이 정신병이 있다는 진단서를 받고 싶어 했습니다. 그러나 면담을 해보니, 그 사람은 정상이라는 판단이 나왔습니다. 그는 은행원이어서 숫자에 밝고 매우 논리적인 사람이었습니다. '콘시 카드 테스트'라는 간단한 테스트가 있는데, 이는 전전두엽의 기능을 평가하는 것입니다. 그 테스트에서도 그는 정상으로 평가되었습니다. 당시의 측정 결과로는 그에게 진단서를 발급할 수 없었습니다. 그래서 한 달 후에 다시 오라고 했습니다. 당시 모든 이론에 따르면 그는 정상인으로 판단되었고, 그래서 새로운 실험 세트를 준비했습니다. 슬라이드를 약 100장 정도 만들었고, 교통사고 장면, 전쟁 장면, 사람의 죽음, 부패하는 모습 등 안 좋은 장면들을 포함했습니다. 그런 슬라이드를 만들어 그 사람에게 보여주었습니다.

He was asked to explain what he had seen, and he described each slide very accurately and logically, without any oddities. However, during the entire interview, he remained completely calm. When he explained things like the mixing of bodies, his facial expression was emotionless; there was no sign of feeling on his face. Normally, if someone is anxious, you would see them frowning or showing some discomfort, but that was not the case with him. After that, they decided to conduct another interview and used a lie detector test. When we lie, we experience stress, which causes our skin to sweat, leading to changes in electrical resistance. However, when they measured it, his skin resistance did not change at all, revealing that his emotions were almost completely stable.

It means that later, when I looked, they said there was nothing in this eye. However, there was a large tumor in the brain. Later, when I investigated, I found out that this person spent the whole day organizing the office when they went to work. They were meticulous, but they did things in a way that was just adequate. This lack of flexibility was evident. As a result, I saw that their judgment had completely deteriorated. Ultimately, when we go to work, we just need to achieve our tasks, right? But they couldn't move on to the next step. How do you think the boss felt about that? Now, it has become clear. So, I learned about Damagio. What happened to this person? Their emotions were flat; they lost the ability to feel. The result was that their actions and judgments were not accurate. Later, even when this person made friends, they still...

We only associate with fraudsters. How do we avoid them? It's not like fraudsters have I'm a fraudster written on their faces. However, we analyze various subtle clues, the person's attitude, their words, and so on. We just know that we can't trust that person, even if we can't explain it. Conversely, we might feel a certain affinity towards someone, but we can't quite put our finger on why. We don't know the reason, and we can't explain it in detail, but we feel it as a whole. It's about our intuition, our sense, and our ability to quickly detect fraud and lies. Ultimately, it's at the center of our feelings. Although it may not be fully conscious, it operates beneath the surface. If we look at the brain's prefrontal cortex, it connects deeply with our gut and internal organs.

There are moments when we go through unity, and when we encounter a bad opponent, we often say we feel it. That is something the gut knows. Specifically, it is the information that comes from the gut, mainly through the vagus nerve. It rises up and gathers various memories and comprehensive information, leading to the feeling that the person in front of you is somehow unexplainable, but your body is rejecting them. That is the feeling. Furthermore, the most concrete manifestation of that feeling is emotion. There is a global expert on fear responses, Dr. Dura. He has researched emotions and fear responses for over 30 years. His books have been translated into about four volumes in Korea. Dr. Dura has rigorously revealed how our feelings are formed and what their components are. In his book, the first component of feeling is sensory perception.

When inputs come in, we feel a sensation every time we see something surprising or someone who is low. It's like a sense that comes in. The second thing is that the survival circuit activates. When someone suddenly goes huh from behind, we get startled. Something has come in, and we react with a startled response. Then, we go huh again. Try this experiment: don't do it too suddenly from behind. When someone goes huh from behind, we hear it, and a survival response occurs. Whether this response is good or bad takes time to evaluate. There is an important part of our brain, the amygdala, that still has remnants of this. Let me give you just one example: this area is located in the amygdala. That region weakens a bit in us, but we still have traces left. When we experimented, we found that when we are in a bright place and suddenly it goes dark, the nerve cells start to go crazy with activity.

There is no situation where you suddenly become angry and everything goes dark. We have had primates since the early Cenozoic era, about 50 million years ago. In fact, during the early primate period, our monkeys were quite small. According to the data I have, there are monkeys with fingers that are just this small. Generally, there are over 400 species of monkeys, and about 90% of them are small. Who would like something that small? Eagles or birds of prey would swoop down and catch them. I often see them in the Mongolian steppe; it takes less than a second. Now, when we think about the early primates that emerged long ago, they had a cortex. This cortex is crucial because when something suddenly darkens, it indicates a situation where something is coming from above. In that case, you need to escape quickly, so it is important to be alerted quickly.

We have it just as it is. I thought about where it comes from, and when it gets caught, the first reaction is that it splits. That's a survival response. After that, the physical reactions occur, such as goosebumps, sweating, and even vomiting. These physical responses happen. Now, these are the three components of feeling. Up to this point, it's understandable, but what is the fourth component? According to the theory, it is cortical arousal. You probably haven't been startled while dozing off. Most of the time, you need to generate it, right? When you suddenly see something, you get startled. In terms of brain activity, cortical arousal means that the cortex is always awake, paying attention, or in a state of being dazed. Therefore, the situations in which we experience feelings are all different. When you're drunk or in a state of mental relaxation, what kind of feeling arises?

Feelings arise, right? When you feel drowsy, what kind of feeling is it? It doesn't come easily, does it? Feelings are most prominent when you are lively and energetic. So, the fourth component of feelings is cortical arousal. The fifth, and most important, is memory. Especially event memory—like when I experienced a dangerous incident in the past, and then I saw a familiar landscape or scene. That memory comes to mind, and it is actually the most crucial aspect of feelings. So, to summarize, feelings consist of at least five components: sensory input, bodily survival response, bodily feedback, the level of cortical arousal, and finally, the memories of all your experiences. All five of these components work simultaneously. Oh my science, it's amazing! This primary system operates, so where do we find all of this?

I don't know if it's coming. When I'm with that friend for a long time, I feel uncomfortable. Back then, I was uncomfortable with him. You come to know that the information from these five situations comes up in my brain at every moment. I combine all of that and report it in one final summary. I have no choice but to trust my feelings. However, if I trust them entirely, that's not good either. The most significant factor here is memory; the memories that person has experienced actually account for more than 50%. Survival is only a very small part of it. As you might guess, where that person has primarily formed their memories matters a lot. For example, people who have undergone rigorous training, like in the Marine Corps or airborne units, have a very different perspective when faced with dangerous situations compared to someone who has just been in a regular job. So, to summarize, feelings are primarily aggressive.

Finding poses is a memory. Therefore, because it has the most weight, we learn directly and link it. Do you understand? So, Professor Havadah prioritized protecting the feelings of his children to ensure they were not damaged. This is because those feelings are the most significant source of memories. If you have seen that room from your childhood, where all your memories are stored, it becomes a Jedi. If that memory is damaged, it is a loss. Those beautiful memories must be preserved as they are. Psychologists always say that if you delve into anyone's inner world, there is a crying five-year-old child. This is precisely the story. In a previous lecture, I mentioned that recalling is very important. Imagination and recall are created in the same area of the brain, particularly in the hippocampus. In fact, recalling may be even more important than imagining. So, I also have a habit of reminiscing about the past.

I have often reflected on the feelings that arise in various situations and how they have changed me over time. I hope you don't see this as just my personal life story, but rather as a sample that can resonate with each of you. Each of you has experienced feelings accompanied by various situations throughout your lives. I encourage you to consider how those feelings have influenced your direction in life. 

Let me share a personal experience. I grew up in Gyeongju and later moved to Uljin, where I could see the ocean. When you actually look at the ocean, you can see it starting from Ganggu. I remember the first time I saw the sea; it was a moment I will never forget. The endless expanse of the deep blue ocean was a perfect mystery.

The world has simply learned from the innocent hearts of children. Even now, my love for nature stems from the sea I encountered in my childhood. Even at over 60 years old, if I don't see the sea for a year, I feel suffocated. The second thing is that when I entered Suncheon Songgwangsa University, I got involved in a circle activity, which was a Buddhist group. The leader, who was somewhat influential, suggested that instead of staying in the countryside, we should go together, and at that time, I sent a postcard. I was grateful for the invitation and participated. In my first year of college, around 3:30 or 4 in the morning, they would announce the schedule. Living in the countryside, what could a high school student do? No one knew what to expect as we were about to enter college. It was the first time I heard the sound of the morning bell in that tranquil mountain temple, and that feeling is something I will never forget for the rest of my life. It was then that I opened my eyes to reading. During that retreat, the last day, the venerable Beopjeong came out and gave a sermon. But that sermon was...

I have forgotten everything now, but there is one memory that remains. The recommendation of three books by the monk Beopjeong was the first step that led me into the world of reading. The first book he introduced is still talked about: it is called You and I, written by a person named Martin Buber, who won the Nobel Prize. In Beopjeong's essay, he describes this book as a mountain that he must overcome in his lifetime, highlighting its crucial role in his spiritual maturity. 

In our relationships with the world, there are two types of connections. When we say I and it, it means that it is merely a tool for me, just a means to an end. However, there is another type of relationship. Let's say there is a large zelkova tree facing a poet during the autumn season. At that moment, that...

The tree that the poet is facing is connected to a deep dimension, where it becomes you and me. It means that we can face each other as equals. This is the essence of the three books I am discussing. It's simple. That's why we often say that we should not treat people as means or ends. A person cannot be a means or an end; a person is a being. 

The second book is Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm. It is a masterpiece that questions how millions of Germans could fall under Hitler's propaganda. Initially, we were one body with the state. After eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, one becomes the head of a family, responsible for the entire family's life. This means that one must make all the decisions and bear the responsibility for them. The burden of that responsibility is incredibly heavy.

The situation has become one where, having gained freedom, we are now under a dictator again. I will no longer be responsible for your actions. This reflects a separation from God when we took the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and the reuniting with God is the premise under which the German people handed over their decision-making power to Hitler. A remarkable book that analyzes this is Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom. The third book introduced by the monk Beopjeong is titled The Silence of the People. Reading those three books had a profound impact on me during my university years. It was then that I realized how diverse and rich the world of books can be. The feeling is akin to a physical response, and memory is key to all of that atmosphere. Richard Feynman said that solving problems is...

No, I felt the problem, and that's exactly it. That kind of feeling will stay with me throughout my life, even until the very last moment of my life. My whole body reacts, the survival circuit activates, the cortex awakens, and that moment becomes embodied in me. It happens instantly. But that feeling lasts a lifetime. So, I mentioned that I did my master's and doctorate in the United States. During my master's and doctorate, I was hardly present. For six and a half years, I was just conducting experiments. All students at Korea University are like that. I would take night flights, and during one of those flights, I watched a documentary film on the monitor. It was a very moving film. At that moment, I felt relieved that I had completed my doctorate, and it was a time when I could comfortably reflect on my life while flying over the Pacific.

As I was flying over the sky, I sat by the window and opened it. It was truly dawn. There was no hesitation; it was the moment I had just finished my work and was heading back home. Everything overlapped at that moment. I can't forget that moment. It's a world that can't be explained; it's a world that is felt. What it means is that it becomes the final benchmark for making significant decisions in life. That's how I see it. Knowledge and various other factors are secondary. Of course, it's important that memories and knowledge are intertwined, and economic power and personal life situations are related, but in the final moments of decision-making, the most crucial moments are influenced by a few feelings that have been ingrained in you throughout your life. Today, anyway, this is about YouTube, books, and life. YouTube exists.

I would like to explain how reading and life intertwine and interact with each other. As the co-chair of a reading group, I have had the opportunity to invite people, which led me to meet poets. Since I am an engineering student, I felt that I lacked knowledge in literature and poetry. However, I have always had a personal fondness for poetry, and by inviting these poets, I gradually began to immerse myself in the world of poetry as an engineering student. Poetry, in essence, is a world that captures feelings through language. Around that time, I also started studying brain science. While attending an observatory in the United States, I developed a love for astronomy. Through the reading group and my encounters with poets, I began to explore how the world of feelings and emotions connects with these experiences.

I started studying the brain with interest 20 years ago. In this lecture, part one focuses on the most important aspect during the teenage years, which is to beautifully protect and nurture the world of feelings. In part two, I shared my personal experiences and explained how the world of feelings has shaped my life. This leads to the answer of why I have so many books. The common thread underlying my experiences of observing stars and encountering the world of silence was, in fact, feelings. This is what drew me into the field of brain science. The driving force behind my studies also stems from significant events accompanied by feelings during my childhood, university years, and study abroad, which ultimately determined the major direction of my life.

As I was creating, I began to move towards a reading movement that gathers quality memories and a learning movement. So, I started to enter a somewhat poetic and literary world, and then the religious world came in as well. As the experience of personal beauty integrated, it provided tremendous momentum for my vast studies. This is what I am offering.

'쎄하다'라는 감각이 중요한 뇌과학적 이유 (박문호 박사 2부)

안녕하세요."책과삶" 입니다.
세상의 모든 감동과 지식을 전합니다.
구독과 좋아요 꾸욱 눌러주시면 더욱 열심히 좋은 영상으로 보답하겠습니다.

제휴 문의 : booksnlife1000@gmail.com


책과삶

The Impact of Damasio's Research on Understanding Emotions

Damasio's research has significantly highlighted the formation and components of feelings in brain science.

His work is now being applied in areas such as criminal psychology and court cases.

Damasio's research has shown that the inability to feel emotions can lead to a loss of judgment and decision-making abilities.

We can avoid fraudsters by paying attention to subtle clues such as a person's attitude and words.

Our intuition and gut feeling play a significant role in quickly detecting fraud and lies, as it is the body's way of rejecting someone.

Emotions and the activation of the survival circuit are key components in forming these feelings, as revealed by expert Dr.

The Five Components of Feelings and Their Significance

Feelings consist of sensory input, survival responses, bodily feedback, cortical arousal, and memories.

Cortical arousal and memories play the most crucial roles in shaping our feelings.

The formation of memories, especially in intense or dangerous situations, significantly influences an individual's emotional responses.

A Personal Journey of Emotions and Influence

Growing up in Gyeongju, the encounter with the ocean had a profound impact, shaping a lifelong love for nature.

Joining a Buddhist group in college led to a transformative experience of hearing a sermon and being introduced to three influential books, impacting the individual's relationship with the world and understanding of personal responsibility.

The Profound Impact of Books on Decision-Making

The books "Escape from Freedom" by Erich Fromm and "The Silence of the People" recommended by the monk Beopjeong had a profound impact on the speaker during their university years.

These books made the speaker realize the diverse and rich world of literature and its lasting effect on them.

The speaker believes that, in life's crucial moments, decision-making is most influenced by deep-seated feelings, which serve as the final benchmark, regardless of knowledge or economic power.

The Interconnectedness of Reading, Poetry, and Life

Inviting poets to a reading group sparked the co-chair's interest in poetry despite being an engineering student.

This led to an exploration of how emotions connect with literature, brain science, and astronomy.

The co-chair's study of the brain was influenced by a desire to understand emotions, shaped by personal experiences, and ultimately led to a passion for gathering memories through reading.