This is a very interesting experiment — what exactly happens to the patients parts of whose orbitofrontal cortex (which plays a central role in regulating emotional feelings whether to approach or withdraw) are damaged so that they lost most of their emotional lives. Their reasoning and logical abilities are intact and they can perform normally on tests of intelligence. When these people go out into the world, you would assume these people are free of emotional distractions and able to see through the haze of feelings that blind the rest of us and achieve perfect rationality.

Just the opposite. They found themselves unable to make simplest decisions or set goals, and their lives fall apart. When they look out at the world and think, “What should I do now?” They see loads of choices but lack immediate internal feelings of like and dislike. They must examine the pros and cons of every option with reasoning, but in the absence of feeling, they see little reason to pick one over another.

Human rationality depends critically on sophisticated emotionality. Along a similar line, it’s hard for the controlled system to beat the automatic system by will power alone. That’s why all self-control would fail eventually if it’s up against one’s true desire.

Last day of 2010 — I read an article on Boredom (Boredom Enthusiasts Discover the Pleasures of Under-stimulation) and bought a book on Exuberance.

And I cooked a beautiful pot of mung bean soup for myself.

May next year be filled with genuine exuberance for life.