Intellectualizing drains emotions

[LoBagola]

 

A few people this week have said something similar to me. One that he doesn't like to explain or verbalize an emotion because he thinks it loses its insight. I interpreted this as he thinks its rubbish so he chooses not to think about it — but maybe that's not what he means. I'm not sure. 

Someone else I spoke to told me she doesn't want to intellectualize because her emotions lose their beauty. So if she sees a sunrise she doesn't want to start thinking about what she learned in science about rays, trajectory etc

 

So I researched and found this:

 

Intellectualization

 

Related to rationalization, intellectualization involves removing the emotion from emotional experiences, and discussing painful events in detached, uncaring, sterile ways. Someone who intellectualizes becomes very distant from their feelings, and when asked to describe their feelings may find it difficult. They may understand all the words that describe feelings, but have no idea what they really feel.

 

From: http://www.psychpage.com/learning/defenses.html

 

How can one remove emotion from emotional experiences? Maybe what its describing is a process of rationalizing? but that can't be, because rationalization is a separate entry. Is something legitimate being described here, because I can't relate to it. If I try to understand why I like someone, it only makes me more confident in the emotion, and therefore more present and focused with the person.

[JASKN]

Your friends' comments don't sound like this explanation of "Intellectualization," to me. I've heard people make comments similar to your two friends. My guess is that they are simply trying to preserve an emotion that they like. They understand only implicitly that new information can potentially change an emotion. They've had some experience in the past where a strong, positive emotional reaction of theirs was shattered because they later discovered some inescapable fact that altered their underlying evaluations, which they then couldn't dismiss or forget about. Since they haven't identified explicitly, nor come to terms with, the fact that emotions follow facts and thinking evaluations, they're not sure how or when their emotions will appear. So, when they feel really great, they don't want anything to change, in case they never feel that great in that same way again.

 

My best layman's psychoanalyzing guess.

[frank harley]

Referring to he work of Kahneman and Tversky, emotional responses can easily be understood as heuristics, or a way of avoiding intellectual involvement. It's a short-cut, in other words,.

 

And yes, thought does spend lots of brain-oxygen.