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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgbrowning" data-source="post: 671662" data-attributes="member: 5724">This of course leads one to wonder, "Can we just "turn off" our emotions?"I think so.  I think it is very hard, and most people who think they're doing it probably aren't because i don't think its so much an "effort of the moment" as much as it is an continual effort.Here's my train 'o thought.If i feel angery at an action and spend several years learning to not feel angry at at action and then i reach a point where the action no longer "triggers" the angry emotion, i have effectivly turned off an emotion.  Abeit only for that single action/emotion connection.  Like the guy cutting me off in traffic action not even illicting an emotional response.This makes me think that, since i can effectivly not feel emotions based upon choice and will, that there's a good chance this concept can be taken further.  Say i don't want to feel angry anymore.  At anything.  Well given enough time i think that the actual emotion of anger will dissapate because, as i term it, "im no longer feeding the monster."I kinda view anger like a pig.  Pigs root around the soil and make a big mess and then they move on when there isn't any more food to be found.  I try to not provide any food to begin with to my "anger pig!" so he doesn't "visit" as often and when he does its only for a short while.  Hopefully, he'll just give up and move along.In essense, very few things make me angry, (people feeling justified in hurting others is one of them), and i'm trying to reduce, on a daily basis/effort of will, the number of things that make me angry.  And it works.  Me 6 years ago and me today are almost completely different people.  My wife didn't even recognize a picture of me from college, and i haven't physically changed (cept for a bit less hair now.. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.  It was my eyes.  They're not my eyes anymore.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> joe b.</blockquote>

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