DDOSing the emotional API
@here and @far #88
The day before the Christian celebration of peace and kindness (aka Easter), all I can think of is that I go to Twitter for enlightening information and what I get is a constant barrage of things to get me angry. And Google News is the same.
Outrage and anger can change the world for the better, but for me they mostly leave me in a heightened emotional state, on the lookout for attacks, angry and dismayed.
Today’s was particularly bad: an alleged discussion between a Russian couple where the husband is a soldier. His wife seems to give him permission to rape Ukrainian women as long as he uses protection.
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You can imagine how that spiked my anger to stratospheric levels, even while struggling to believe it’s real. I can feel your anger from here.
So please remember, humans are open loop.
Our emotional states come from others as much as they come from us. We have very powerful emotional APIs. Horrible news stories (true or not) trigger that API just as surely as a cuddly conversation with our kids.
In this time of trouble, beware what you ingest in your emotional API.
What do you call a bad rat? A ratscal.
~ My daughter
