Emotion, Memory, and Reason

Give a one-paragraph response (5 sentence minimum) for each prompt.

1. Comment on the connections between emotion & memory.  You may research to find out more about emotion, memory & the brain (cite as needed).
2. Define 'high reason' and the 'somatic hypothesis'.  How do you approach decision-making?  Examples of decisions: doing your HW, EE topic, future education & career, what to eat at lunch

1. Emotion can have a powerful impact on memory. For example, emotion can help you to remember. Memories are generally treated differently depending on whether they are associated with pleasant emotions or unpleasant ones, and that this general rule appears to be affected by age and other individual factors. Specifically, pleasant emotions appear to fade more slowly from our memory than unpleasant emotions, but among those with mild depression, unpleasant and pleasant emotions tend to fade evenly, while older adults seem to regulate their emotions better than younger people, and may encode less information that is negative. Furthermore,  positive memories contain more censorial and contextual details than neutral or negative memories. In conclusion, emotionally charged events are remembered better, pleasant emotions are usually remembered better than unpleasant ones, positive memories contain more contextual details (which in turn, helps memory), strong emotion can impair memory for less emotional events and information experienced at the same time, and t's the emotional arousal, not the importance of the information, that helps memory.

2. High reason is the point of view of another person who does not know you and who is unaware of how you feel or your emotional history and who, despite all of this, continues to advise you on big decisions. High reason revolves around pure reason, logical/ critical thinking, reasonable results, and no emotional influence. The somatic hypothesis, on the other hand, is basically a gut feeling. Unlike high reason, it revolves around emotion. For me, personally, it depends on the decision that I happen to be making. For example, if it is a small decision, such as what I should eat for breakfast, I usually rely on the somatic hypothesis. At 5:30 in the morning, I am not necessarily prepared or fully awake to make well reasoned and thought out decisions. I am more likely to rely on my gut instinct and to make a decision based on what ever I happen to be in the mood for. However, on the other hand, if I was making a slightly more important decision, such as where I should go to college, I am definitely more likely to rely on high reason. This is because I want to choose the college that is the best fit for me. It is very important to make sure that the college doesn't just "feel right" based on my emotions during the time in which I happen to be researching or visiting the college. It is crucial that I rely on more concrete and logical research and thinking, such as the cost of the college, the courses that it happens to offer, general recommendations from higher authorities in and out of the college, etc... I find it very important to mix the two of these types of reason together in order to make a big decision, such as choosing a college.

Thoughts and Questions on Language

1. Share your thoughts as a knower on one specific concept or example from the readings; name the reading, and give a page number for any part more than one page.
One specific section of the second packet, "The case of the disappearing languages" that really caught my attention was the excerpt entitled, "Language and gender: 'Nu Shu', China's secret female language. After reading this section from pages 86-87, I was very intrigued. I found it fascinating how the women in China created their own language, which only they could understand. I am familiar with some of the history of China and how women were often thought of as secondary to men, not respected, and often ignored. Women were basically nothing but servants for men. As the article mentions, "one of the longest-lasting forms of inequality relates to gender." The fact that the women in China defied this and created their own language is inspiring. Those women did not just stand idly by and let men be the only literate gender, they took matters into their own hands and created their own language, one which men could not understand. Nushu liberated them from illiteracy and gave them the courage to stand up for themselves and to take control of their own lives. 

2. Write two ‘good TOK questions’ that develop from the concept or example you choose; you may write your own questions or you may borrow or adapt (with citation), questions found in the TOK subject guide (knowers, WOK, AOK, linking questions).
What is the role of language in creating and reinforcing social distinctions, such as class, ethnicity and gender? (Taken from "Language in the TOK Guide" http://www.englishb-inthinking.co.uk/language-and-tok/tok-and-language-1.htm) 

In what ways can learning a new language or creating a new language define a person? Does gender really make a difference?