Grade 12 TOK
Emotion, Experience & Culture
Emotion, Experience, Culture and Gender
If, as we have seen, our emotional (and the resultant physiological) response to (the feeling we get
from) a particular situation is based on our perception of it (empirical data) and our recognition of
its significance to us (rational processing), then there would seem to be something else that
distinguishes between the various emotions: what the emotion feels like.
These feelings are what dominate our awareness of our different emotions. They are each distinct,
in that anger cannot be mistaken for fear, even though the physiological effects may be similar. The
reason many of us react differently in different situations is because of experiences, culture and
gender issue. It is very difficult to describe why you feel emotionally differently to someone else
in the same situation (in the same way that it is difficult to describe the colour red or the smell of
fresh-ground coffee to someone who has never experienced them).
E-IQ TEST: GROUPS OF TWO
1.
Answer the first five questions true or false: Are your results the same as your partners, if
not attempt to explain why.
2. Answer questions six through fifteen, repeat the task above
3. Answer remaining questions
Are your emotional qualia (feelings) the same as your partners? If not why
Are your emotional qualia the same as those experienced by someone from a different culture who
speaks a different language?
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Consider you own emotional life. Do you think that the way you experience love, disgust,
disappointment or any other emotion has been shaped by your culture?
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There is a popular stereotype that women are “more emotional than men” (in extremes, some men
say that women are “irrational” while women counter that men are “emotional cripples”). How do
you suppose this stereotype has come about and, in light of what has been said above (and in your
own experience) to what extent, if any, is the stereotype true?
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Grade 12 TOK
Alchin on Cultural differences:
Emotion, Experience & Culture
Grade 12 TOK
And in Conclusion:
Emotion, Experience & Culture