Ok, here's my thought: We are all inherently emotional beings, subsequently all developmental advances have to some degree accounted for this fact (however we quantify it). That being said is it safe then to suggest that all intellectual facets or learned thought, reason, etc is ultimately built upon the foundation of our emotional nature? If so how then do we regulate the stability of such intelligence on the fickle nature of human emotions?

...could you run that by me again? ? ?

i do agree that we are inherently emotional, however, it may not be the case that emotion and intelligence can be divided so easily, it would the same as if you said red and color are two different things, the realms of which they dictate respectively is slightly out of the reach of contrast, i don't think the foundation of logic is built "on" emotions, but rather that emotions are a product of one's degree logic ( or in some case lack of) but on the other hand, answering the question directly, i would assume you control it like you control anything else, prediction and preparation.

Fair enough Qiao. There in fact are 3 questions in my post.
1. Can we conclude that all other facets of human intelligence are built upon an emotional basis?
2. If that is true (I feel to be relatively the case), are we not then subject to emotion thus potentially undermining (but not negating) our perceived intelligence?
3. Again, if this is true then how is that intelligence regulated in tandem with the emotional (an sometimes unpredictable and contradictory) aspects of our nature?

I suppose the root of query is to identify if it is the presence of emotion that stimulates the 'desire' to learn, achieve, etc... Not so much to distinguish between the two but to better understand the relationships. Is emotion necessary for intelligence to be present?

I would recomend looking up "the pleasure principle" and Freud's breakdown of the human pysche into the Id, the Ego, and the Superego

a lot of the emotional basis for thought is covered in that

emotion is not needed for intelligence,they are seperate aspects of the human mind

if a baby had never recieved any loving attention it would never desire such attention *learned behavior* :being held,soothing voices,rocking etc.
Even being held is more of a survival issue than an emotional one,but it builds an emotional base..that base is 'comfort' or feeling safe *again learned*


if a child never recieved any emotional attention they would not desire it just the same,but the training must start in infancy.
If you never yell at or hit a child and they NEVER get HURT they then will not LEARN to avoid those things :pain/damage.IF you never hold them they will not desire being held,or kissed,or praised,etc,etc.Pain is natural but damage is learned,you learn that damage causes PAIN


sadly no true long term observations have been done on these things because most doctors/scientists would consider the experiment to be neglect/abuse.You must break a few eggs to make the perfect omelette,the same can be said of raising a new breed of human being

actually they have been done. I would refer you to Harlow's "Emotional attachment of rhesus monkey's" study

Interesting connection Vass.

Lets assume that there is a baseline of 'intelligence' (i.e eat, sleep, reproduce, survive) Anything else is the progression of 'advanced' intelligence (i.e language, math, etc). If behavior is learned and such behavior is motivated by emotion (not to abuse, to nurture, etc) Then in the absence of such learned emotional behaviors will people like Einstein still have existed. Was there an emotional component to his pursuit of knowledge (if knowledge is equal to intelligence) and would they have reached such level of knowledge/intelligence without the presence of emotional motivation...?

intelligence would still trive because most humans possess 'curiosity' which while at one point is emotional it is also intellectual.Curiosity is the 'hunger' for knowledge,so its also sort of an instinct *hunger,pain,fear*


so yes i believe that even in a word devoid of emotion intellect would still thrive as the HUNGER for information would still drive us to seek answers


now if you could strip away both instinct AND emotion,then yes you would have the human equivilent of a rock.Through chemistry/surgery this IS possible,but again no legality fearing scientist would do it without the govts say so

I see your point here. The question then becomes is curiosity a trait truly independent of emotion? If it is then I suppose so long as curiosity exist so would a level of intelligence; however, curiosity alone would not sustain the pursuit of knowledge over long durations of time...would it?

To compare curiosity to a hunger is our way of conceptualizing or articulating the drive (or pull) that it has on us, but is it truly similar. Hunger is in response to a physical need, food. Curiosity however is an indulgence of the mind and imagination; can that also equate to a "physical need"?

curiosity and intellectual gratification is a need just as hunger and thirst. According the Maslow's Heiarchy of human needs. when a person is concerned with food and shelter he doesnt have time for intellectual gratification. once the primal needs are met there is room for the next order of the heiarchy


Maslow's pyramid of heiarchial needs

the mind is physical, emotions and behavior occur as a result of physical reactions. sometimes our perspective of reality tends to unbind our will to our body.

99% of all thought and emotion happens at the unconcious level and we are not actually even aware of it

we don't really know why we do things we do or feel the way we do because it's all hidden from us

if we were able to see it, it would be pretty traumatic. people have a hard time facing the pure emotion and passion of the id. usually that sort of vision accompanies a major breakthrough in psychological treatment

Ok... Understanding how emotions fit and what would happen in the absence of emotion aren't really the same thing... We agree that we are emotional beings and that there are several layers to our mental hierarchy that incorporate emotion into them but what would that hierarchy look like with out emotion at all present? Try to visualize and think outside the conventional understanding of emotion's place in our lives (if it is even possible) to imagine an emotionless you or me or everyone. How would we act, what would drive us (if anything)?

One thing that I am learning is that emotion has an even larger hand in our day-to-day goings on than just what we feel. If that's true then perhaps removing that component would have an even greater affect on us...
I'm looking for speculation, what would a day in your life be like if there were no emotional influences what-so-ever?

Emotions generally drives all human behavior. As intellectual creatures we are able to overcome our emotions and act against them if we choose to do so.

But, why would we want to get rid of all human emotion? Just to avoid the negative emotions? Emotions are behind the most beautiful accomplishments of the human race. Art, music and even science. They were all begun due to emotions. You can't have the good without the bad. It would throw everything out of balance. Better to learn how to overcome negative emotions than to get rid of them.

Well, if desire is emotion then intellect would be useless without emotion. Without a desire to learn, discover, and create the intellect would stagnate and perish.

There's also a large question of whether creativity is driven by intellect or emotion. If it is indeed driven by the latter then intellect without emotion would never be creative. It would remain mundane and pragmatic forever. There would seldom, if ever, be innovations beyond the pure essentials.

So emotion may be far more important than intellect.

NO.
and No.

it's kinda difficult to discuss them impact of emotion on our psyche and how the human intellect is controlled and influenced by emotion while ignoring the couple of hundred years of study and research into that very subject

there are hundreds of scholarly works written on various aspects of emotion and the origin of and the effect on decision making

I referred to three here already but was ignored. if we choose to ignore the work already done and still want to try to discuss it then it really just turns into stoner talk and not a discussion of facts or reality

really at this point your arguing in terms of purpose. why bother feel at all, why bother live, eh who knows? we live because in doing so our emotions rewards us and in failing it punishes, but like ruth said, we can overcome those emotions but this is off to a far tangent.

Thanx for running that by me again!
At the 1st look, the idea of the powerful Intellect being dependant on Emotion seemed preposterous. Nevertheless, I've done some digging around and here's what I discovered:
*** There's no Direct relationship between the two. However, there's a strong Indirect connection...

According to the Wikipedia/ wiktionary:
INTELLECT: The faculty of knowing and reasoning; understanding, rationality and intuition/insight...

UNDERSTANDING: Mental, sometimes emotional process of comprehension, assimilation of knowledge, which is subjective by its nature; Reason or intelligence, ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge, ability to infer; Opinion, judgement or outlook; An informal contract, mutual agreement;

REASONING: the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings.

FEELING: a physical sensation that you experience; Sensation, particularly through the skin; Emotion; impression; Emotional state or well-being; Emotional attraction or desire; Intuition ...
- emotional or moral sensitivity (especially in relation to personal principles or dignity);

EMOTION: An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, or experienced from an individual point of view. Emotion is often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. ...

Personally, I've never thought emotions would be necessary for the intellectual advancement. However, it seems, the cold hard Intellect isn't that cold after all!!!

Thanx for opening my eyes!