Navigating Emotionally

A few weeks ago, I heard a podcast about the developmental journey of emotions, an intriguing intellectual talk between Dr. Mary Helen Immondino Yang and Dr. Andrew Huberman. The conversation made me think of how emotions matter eventually. Emotions change how we navigate the landscape spanning from stimulus to response, not only to protect ourselves but to know ourselves and others as well. Here's the gist from what I understood.

Primary emotions are basically the skeletal framework for more immediate reactions, found early in life, critical for survival and conveying immediate demands. As we develop further, gather more experiences and empathic ability, enhanced also due to age particularly after the first 7 years, we appraise more complexly. In other words, we are able to make several interpretations of the same event, for example. With an increase in stress management of various kinds, our coping skills sharpen alongside. Over time, the more we practice emotion by the route of various possible appraisals, we become better adapted in terms of how and when to use the palette of emotions to our and others' advantage. Emotions, in the end, not only help us live in the here and now. Emotions help us live in the long run with all kinds of people and ever-changing social situations.