TED Talks Daily You aren't at the mercy of your emotions -- your brain creates them | Lisa Feldman Barrett
Dec 28, 2018
In this insightful discussion, neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett shares her groundbreaking research on emotions. She reveals that emotions are not hardwired but constructed by the brain through predictions based on our experiences. Barrett encourages listeners to rethink their emotional responses, emphasizing that we might have more control over them than previously thought. This empowering perspective invites a transformative approach to understanding our feelings and improving our emotional well-being.
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Stone-Faced Stare In The Courtroom
- Barrett describes the Boston Marathon bomber's stone-faced stare to show jurors can't reliably detect remorse from faces.
- She uses this real example to illustrate that facial expressions do not reveal inner emotions reliably.
Emotions Are Brain-Made Predictions
- Emotions are not hardwired, universal reactions but constructed predictions your brain makes in the moment.
- Lisa Feldman Barrett explains that brains build emotions from past experience rather than retrieve fixed emotion circuits.
Perception Is Prediction
- Your brain constantly predicts and constructs perception using past experience, even turning blobs into snakes after seeing a photo.
- Barrett emphasizes that prediction is the basis of every experience and action.