All living animals have emotions to one degree or another.  Most of us have seen dogs and other animals cry at the loss of another, or when in pain, and we have seen them jump and play when they are happy. But in humans, emotions seem to “take over” some people; humans cry, they are happy, they are angry, or they are sad. Humans tend to exhibit their emotions much more than many other animals.  But are emotions strictly under the domain of humans, mammals, or even those on Terra?  Are emotions included as an integral part of the Like Construct?  Do all people exhibit the same degree of emotions as others?

To a limited extent, emotions were included as a part of the Life Construct, but possibly not for the reasons many would understand.  They are a means of communications, and communicating mainly feelings. When humans see emotions being exhibited by others (including animals), we typically feel empathy – we tend to share the emotions, as a means of achieving a closer bond with the other Soul. It is, in part, a defense mechanism; if we are in the presence of someone exhibiting anger, we are more likely to show an interest in what is making them angry, in order to help them feel more secure in their environment. Sadness is another good example; when someone around us is sad, we strive to provide comfort to them, try to help them recover from being sad. We do this for many different creatures, not just humans.

There are many people who experience emotions on a daily basis, and about many different things. It has become an accepted response in our society – people expressing emotions around us is a daily response to elements in their environment.  To a degree, those who identify as extroverts will tend to display emotions more often than people who self identify as introverts. That does not means that Souls who identify as introverts are less emotional, it only means that they tend to exhibit more control over their emotions, to the point of not displaying them when others are around. But for those that are able to sense the Life Energies of another, they can generally sense the emotions of even the strongest introvert.

So does everybody routinely exhibit emotions?  Is there an advantage to not expressing them?  There is a benefit. Let me use the leadership of the Central Sun for instance. The Chair of the Executive Council is one who tends to not let emotions come to the forefront of their daily existence, while the co-chair of the Council tends to let emotions be shown a bit more. The reason for the inhibiting of emotions is primarily so that the emotions do not guide a response to any given situation or incident. When in a highly emotional state, one tends to respond to situations in an emotional manner, which also may tend to expose others to those same emotional situations. The emotions can change the outlook on a given event in a way that it may not be beneficial.  Say you are driving down a road, and you see a vehicle drive into a body of water; because this vehicle had just passed you, you know that there are two adults and two children in the car.  You notice that the car begins to submerge in the water, and you begin to fear for the lives of those in the car. At this point, you are generally now being driven by an emotional response; do you get out of your car and go into the water to try to save the people there?  Do you call for help from first responders?  Do you try to get help from others that may be nearby? An emotional response might be to just go into the water and try a rescue on your own. But you suddenly realize (upon entering the water)  that the water is far too cold for you, the water is too deep, and you can not swim.  You made a decision based on an emotional response, and you may have put yourself in danger. 

The Chair of the CS Executive Committee typically does not exhibit many emotions, because reacting to a situation or incident in an emotional manner may well not provide the kind of lasting solution to a given problem that would be beneficial for all involved.  It does not mean that they are incapable of expressing emotions, or that they have no emotions, it means that they have developed an ability to see and work through a situation outside the constraints of emotion. While beneficial in many cases, it is this kind of response that acts in line with the intent of the Constructs. 

It is important to understand the limitations of this approach; while there is a long term benefit to evaluating and responding to situations in a way that does not involve an emotional response, it may also result in an appearance of a lack of empathy – the response without emotion may not convey to others a degree of caring for their safety that they may expect. That degree of empathy may come later, but that may be too late for some – responses based on emotion tend to be gut level immediate responses, that occur “in the moment”. It is unfortunate, but Terran society has come to identify this “in the moment” response as beneficial; Souls that do not routinely exhibit this kind of reaction are typically viewed as cold and distant. 

It is this societal supported response that is the reason that the concepts of emotion, as a means of communications, are being evaluated in the context of the Life Construct.