How Emotions are Made (Cinematic Lecture)

Emotions don’t happen to you. They are made by your predictive brain, in specific situations: a brain that feels affect and makes concepts absorbed from your life experience while conversing with your body + the world around you.

00:00 - Intro
05:10 - 1. Prediction
14:45 - 2. Affect
20:15 - 3. Concepts
25:35 - How Emotions are Constructed
30:00 - Emotional Vocabulary
32:00 - FAQ/Discussion

ToC thanks to Walter Burton

[humandugong]

This is what I call a well-made lecture.

[BloomwithAna-rsll]

I loved the part where people from around the world talked about emotions and how they express them. This reminded me of a beautiful book I read a while ago: “Emotional Alchemy allows us to turn pain into wisdom, fear into courage, and sadness into compassion.’’- Andrew Kenneth Fretwell (Emotional Alchemy the Love and Freedom Hidden within Painful Feelings)

[WalterBurton]

Nicely done.

Quick TOC:

1. Prediction @ 5:10.
2. Affect @ 14:45.
3. Concepts @ 20:15.

Emotions @ 25:35.
Emotional Vocabulary @ 30:00.
FAQs/Discussion @ 32:00.

[anthonyrispo]

Such a brilliant production featuring one of the most brilliant scientists of our day.

[reneverlaine]

Jesus Christ. I discovered your work recently, I was diving and diving in different psychological theories.

For many reasons, I felt like they were either innacurate, incomplete or flat out unscientific (polyvagal theory for example).

I bought all your books, I am reading also your blog, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart as your works are not only revolutionary but they are completely changing the way I see and view things.

You are one hell of a scientist and I will do everything I can at my humble level to diffuse, and share this knowledge.

Thank you Lisa Feldman barett you are badass. 😊

[dmlled]

a superb video! A perfect one to augment discussions of emotions with friends and colleagues with

[georginabastien]

What I am curious is this: the implications of truly healing (and the arduous journey) from severe early childhood trauma - based on these very scientific facts Lisa presents!

[szymborska]

The stories we tell ourselves transform sensations into emotions. There are many aspects of meditation/Eastern philosophy that resonate.

[canadianhappyinitalytruest]

I will be watching this with my kids and husband this weekend! Thank you Dr Lisa!! Finally something for the whole family…. Your work has made me wish I had known about this before my sports career finished!

[sism]

Absolutely loved it and learned a lot from this !

[sooolix]

When I see such a video my predictions lead me only to the word "grateful" Thank you so much for this!

[paulinelillico]

Thank you. This is really powerful. So beautifully and clearly presenting important research. Hope it gets the wide audience it deserves.

[thewiseturtle]

The way I model emotions is that they are 2D level consciousness, where we're able to model the line between our own current state and goal state, but also the current and goal state line for another individual (animal, vegetable, mineral, etc.), simultaneously, so we can see the shape of our relationship, and seek solutions that exist within that space for helping us both get what we want. You could say that it's my affect + your affect.

Not all humans have the capacity to do this well/fully. Some will only be able to measure the current state of one or both individuals. And much of the time even those who do have the full ability can't do it due to compromises in their health (not being able to get their needs met consistently). So a lot of the time, even with us emotional animals, we don't really have especially useful emotions that reflect the real dimensionality of our interactions with ourselves and others. But when we are "in tune" with our own body and the body of another, then we can have very useful emotions that meaningfully guide us in solving problems for ourselves and our companion.

[flourpolyester]

Great video. I love your perspective. Something always felt off about every cause and effect explanation. This is the kind of revolutionary thinking that makes sense to me. This, like so many other things in biology, is self-organizing. It's kind of terrifying to think that emotions are automatic. We think of cells as moving things around automatically. Humans, like cells, are undergoing automatic processes too? Is anything not automatic? I'd like to believe so, but I'm still searching for that answer. PS: I was shown this video for a neuropsychology class.

[drtomasaragon]

Love it! Amazing! I have read both books, and this video is a great summary to solidify the concepts.

[leeboriack]

What an incredible gift this video is.

[ericschmidt]

Very informative and insightful. It is so helpful to understand why we feel the way we feel. I can see how this knowledge can help me improve the quality of my experiences in this world, and particularly my interaction with others.

[wushaofan]

Kudos to the editor, I know how intricate this editing took

[Superaurelio]

What a great video! Beatiful work explaining what the constructive theory of emotions claims. I would like many people to see it to undo conceptual errors, and create a more communicative and compassionate world.

[dmytrohlynianchuk]

Just wow
You did a great job! I know it took a lot of time to do it. I hope it’s not your last video! I subscribed