Poly Lingua

Can you get rid of emotion? No. You can suppress them but never without consequence. The Vulcans you mentioned suppress their emotions which is why it rebounds on them badly when they either enter mating season or get old. The suddenly start feeling emotion again but feel it in such extremes that they can't control it and practically view it as a mental breakdown.

 

This is what happens to soldiers with PTSD. While they fight in battle they can suppress their fear and horror with the adrenaline and the instinct to survive pushing it down. But the instant they are back in civilian life. Their brain finally starts to process months, even years of blood and combat in one big lump and all the emotions they kept in check just smash right though there mental barriers to the point they remember it all both awake and when they sleep.

 

They say you can only over come your fears by facing them. Well the same can be said of any emotion if you think about it. But running from them is futile. They will get you in the end. 

Ah, yes, Pon-farr. That's true. I guess not even Vulcans can achieve Kolinahr or the total elimination of their emotions.

I think you may be right. Even myself, I tend to suppress or disregard emotions, sometimes coming off as callous or rude on accident. I don't like my emotions and I ironically feel embarrassed when they do show themselves. On the rare chance they do show, if it's negative, it's like an atomic bomb going off and it can often lead to disaster. And if it's positive, then I can overreact and get too excited, possibly doing something very reckless on impulse.

I'm sure I don't need to point out that basing your argument on the accomplishments of a fictional race doesn't really add much to your case.  By that rationale, I could argue that the Romulans, who are the result of a schism within Vulcan society of people who refused to suppress their emotions, are a far greater power in the galaxy than the Vulcans are.

 

You say that science would flourish, I disagree.  Without passion the drive would not be there, with no enjoyment in ones work, and aspirations, people would feel no compulsion to excel and would just wander listlessly from one act of mediocrity to the next, feeling the need only to satisfy their basic physiological requirements.

You are correct that basing my argument on a fictional race is pointless. However, there is most likely no experimental evidence to support any argument as to what would happen if we had no emotions. In the end they are just speculations and more or less subjective opinions. It's very probable that I'm wrong, and life without emotions would lead to no advancement or growth as a race, maybe even self-destruction. Competition, the feeling of success and accomplishment, the persistent curiosity of asking "why?", yes, emotions can and often lead to accomplishment and discovery. But they also can contradict it; the security of having faith to easily answer complex why's, the anger one can feel in an argument causing them to discredit any evidence brought forth, uneasiness from the unknown... Emotions can also get in the way of experimentation and gaining knowledge.

I think that perhaps without emotions, if people could come up with some other "drive", some kind of philosophy or reason, to base their lives on and live by, then it could work. And living without emotions would be neither "good" or "bad", you wouldn't feel happy or sad about it since you wouldn't feel at all; so just as there would be no enjoyment or compulsiveness in one's work and life, there also would be no displeasure or frustration in one's work. But then again, a life without emotion would probably be different depending on the individual; a person who relies on their emotions a lot would probably have a more difficult time living without them, versus someone who is less emotional and relies more on rational thought.

Perhaps. Though emotions are more than social skills. Without them, Art and Science would be very far from what they are now. They are a part of us, they participate in pretty much everything we do. Removing them is like removing one of your senses. Sure, it won't alter your choice anymore, and you will be more focused on the other 4, but you still lose a part of yourself. Whether it is good or not depend on each individual.

 

Removing the bad does not always bring the good, working on your emotions and making the best our of them would probably be a better (and safer) option.

 

I don't know if this is going to happen or not, though. Probably.

Get rid of emotions and life would become merely existence, nothing more than a period of time between birth and death.

 

Emotion is what drives us to create, to improve, to become better than we are.

I'd like to disagree. With Vulcans, for example, they rid themselves of emotion, yet they base their existence around logic and gaining knowledge off which they can base their logic. The reason we have emotions in the first place is because their an adaptation that allowed us as a species to survive and procreate through the natural use of chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, norepinephrine, etc.; you feel lonely when your alone because you're more likely to survive (and have sex) in a large group, you feel happy when you succeed because it will make you want to succeed again, you feel attached or 'in love' with someone because it makes you more likely to reproduce and protect your young and mate, etc. But we've also developed logic and the ability to think rationally and not rely entirely on our instincts to survive.

I think ridding ourselves of emotions would allow for more rational thinking, greater cooperation, and problems would be solved much faster. One could argue, why would we solve problems if we have no emotional motivation to do so? Well, logically our biological duty as a species is to procreate and prolong our species for as long as possible, and in order to do that we would need to further our knowledge and understanding of the universe, and to solve any major problems that would arise and possibly harm our species or kill us. Having emotions makes people reckless, they can get offended and become irrational and fueled by anger, or they can become euphoric and do something they may regret when they are in a more rational state of mind. Those are the extremes of course, but even on a mild level emotions can become a nuisance and cloud our rational thought.

So yes, the arts would probably cease to exist as art often plays on one's emotions. I also think that religion would cease to exist if we were to expel all emotions, as religion also plays on one's emotions and ego. However, science would probably flourish, we would be able to work together, to debate logically and create logical solutions to problems, and who knows what else. Do we really need emotions to live? Well, as an individual living in our current human society, probably. But as a species? Probably not.

But is it even possible for an individual human being to accomplish expelling their emotions (if he/she wanted to)? Or is it too deeply ingrained into our brains as a species for one to ever gain true liberation from their emotions?

(And I'm not saying emotions are good or bad, I'm simply saying they often lead to irrational thoughts and impede on logic. Some of our emotions feel "good" to us on purpose because our bodies evolved that way, and some feel "bad". I think it's kind of like an easy, automatic way of determining whether something is good or bad for you; does it feel good? Yes, it must be good. Or no, it must be bad. Logic, on the other hand, goes above this, it takes in and assesses more objective information and asks more questions based outside of ourselves than simply this primitive, subjective question of "does it feel good".)

Is it possible for a human to completely rid themselves of emotion?

I'm not talking about controlling emotion and its expression, but the actual expulsion of feeling emotions.

Vulcans from Star Trek have violent emotions that run even deeper than human emotions, yet through the teachings of Surak they have found ways to conceal or even rid their emotions, replacing them with logic. According to the teachings of Surak their are different levels to this (numbered in degree of difficulty):

1.) A control level of one implies that a person is capable of controlling the facial expressions normally exhibited due to an emotion the majority of the time, but still feels the emotion.

2.) Level two implies a person can control all expressions of emotion the majority of the time, but still feels the emotion.

3.) Level three is where emotion is there, but not expressed, or even felt. It has no influence, the majority of the time.

4.) Mastery level four is complete mastery. In this state, the emotion is completely cast out, and is no longer a part of you. This state is also referred to as "Kolinahr".

So do you think it would be possible for a human to achieve Kolinahr or come close to it? And would it even be logical or beneficial for a human to attempt this? Without emotions, one would not be able to laugh, to happily smile, etc., which could make socializing very difficult and could affect their relationships, possibly career, and other aspects of their life. Human society expect us to have emotions to some extant despite how they can sometimes make us reckless and impulsive, much different from Vulcan society where it is expected to have no emotions and being emotionless is considered 'normal'.

So what do you think?

(And I don't mean through surgically altering the brain, so lobotomy doesn't count.)

Do you think it could ever be possible to genetically engineer intelligent, talking ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and alicorns as we see in the show? And let's say it happens, how would you feel about it? How would it change the world? Would we see the formation of an actual Equestria take place? And would the unicorns have something comparable to magic, maybe telepathy of some sort?

You see most effective and most desired are two very different things.  An iron-fisted autocracy with massive amounts of power would be able to keep the peace, but obviously that isn't what people would want to live under.

 

Think "The day the earth stood still."  They have robots that instantly kill you if you show any kind of aggression.  That would certainly work, but I wouldn't want to live under it.

You gave me a great idea! I'll try to add a second poll to this, but instead of asking efficiency it will ask about desirability.

And true about not wanting to live under something like that... but if you grew up in it and had no idea about life outside of such a world to compare to, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad? Or if you're mind was controlled to an extant, or certain emotions/thoughts were suppressed through some kind of machine, then maybe you wouldn't even care or think about it or notice?

What did you choose in the poll? What's your reasoning?

Waking up one morning to the realization that the past 5 years have been a dream and I'm still in high school... *shudders*

Waking up one morning to the realization that my whole life has been a dream and I'm actually 90 years old and lying on my death bed in a hospital... *shudders again*

Doing something on impulse that I had imagined in my head as an alternate (horrific) scenario of reality...

Being the center of attention...

And... needles.

If you were having children, what would you name them? Why?

I like these names for males:

• Endymion - It sounds nice and it can shorten to "Ender" as in "Ender's Game"
• Sherlock - My last name is Holmes and Sherlock Holmes is amazing
• Lestat - It sounds cool and Lestat's a pretty cool vampire

I like these names for females:

• Maudlyn - I really like it and it can shorten to "Maud" (which is ironic cause "maudlin") 
• Octavia - I like music and Octavia's a cool pony
• Marinette - It's a nice name and I like Miraculous Ladybug

Things that make me uncomfortable (I more or less dislike...):

• emotions
• people in general
• small talk
• subjectivity
• eroticism in a vogue sense or facetious manor (perverted jokes, music, etc)
• being the center of attention

Things that I can't stand (I hate...):

• religion and dogmatism
• substances that are unnecessary for sustaining the lives of most humans and are often harmful to the body but people still use them in vogue and try to justify their frivolous use (alcohol, weed, tobacco, caffeine, etc.)
• people who zealously advocate something, whether it be religion or political views
• politics
• loud and/or crowded milieux (cities, parties, clubs, etc.)

(Don't worry, even if I dislike or hate something, I'm still fairly tolerant and I couldn't care less if you like it or participate in it or whatever.)

"I knew I should've stayed home today." jk

I don't have a cellphone so I probably wouldn't be able to call the police right away...

To be honest, though, I'd be kind of excited, cause it's something so random and unusual. I may even look around a bit in the room to see if I could uncover anything about how he died out of curiosity.

And then I'd go and find someone with a phone to call the police.

Post a picture that has something to do with the previous picture!

Be as creative as possible! The funnier the better!

Go!   

I listen to a lot of really random music, but here goes...

English Music:

1. Aurora - Runaway

2. Enya - Caribbean Blue

3. My Chemical Romance - Helena

4. Priscilla Ahn - Fine on the Outside

5. MLP: FiM (Gretina Remix) - This Day Aria

Non-English Music:

1. Árstíðir - Á meðan jörðin sefur (As the Earth sleeps)

2. Spiros Zagoreos - Ligo ligo (tha me sinithisis) (Little by little you'll get used to me)

3. Jenni Vartiainen - Junat ja Naiset (Trains and Women)

4. Tokyo Ghoul - unravel feat. Hatsune Miku

5. 吳雨霏 (Wu Yu Fei / "Kary Ng") - 生生世世愛 (Love through Afterlife)

Classical Music:

1. Bottesini - Gran Duo

2. Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole - 1st Movement

3. Henry Purcell - The Fairy Queen - If love's a sweet passion

4. Bach - Italian Concerto - 2nd Movement

5. Dvorak - New World Symphony - 4th Movement

Isn't it really weird how often times in your dreams, things that are usually weird and nonsensical make perfect sense to you?

I used to sleep walk often as a kid and talk about whatever I was dreaming at the time I guess. According to my parents I would go in their room and start grunting at them. Or another time I went in their room and was freaking out about these bugs covering my bedroom wall or something, but I would wake up and have no memory of any of this. 

I also used to have nightmares about a giant stag breaking into my bedroom window and chasing me; I think it had something to do with the giant stag head hanging in my grandparent's den, 'cause that thing really creeped me out as a kid.

I had this really weird dream where I was giving birth and it sounded like it was being narrated.  It ended at, "all he knew was blood and pain."  weird...

I once had this dream last year where I was walking up this stone spiral staircase that looked like it belonged in a castle, and when I got to the top, this one guy who was in my gym class was waiting for me and shot me in the leg.

I'm curious, in both of your dreams did it hurt at all? Like did you feel any pain through giving birth or being shot in your dream?

I remember one time I cut my wrist really bad from breaking a window and got stitches, and for like 3 nights after I would have reoccurring nightmares of the event and wake up with my wrist hurting...

Post any dreams you've had that you found interesting, weird, or had a lasting impression on you!

This is probably one of the weirder, more complex dreams I've had that I happened to write down:

In this dream I had died for some reason and the world had plunged into a post apocalyptic state, devoid of the internet and modern technology (I reasoned it to be most likely from a solar flare). I 'woke-up', or was 'brought back to life', in the middle of a forest overrun with alien life-forms, such as these giant, moving/pulsing mushroom trees. I explored a bit, and I came across the house and neighbourhood where I grew up, covered with plants and falling apart. At some point I met a clan of people which had my family in it, and they could hardly believe I was alive, and they remarked about how I hadn't aged at all. They explained the world going to chaos and getting taken over by these strange mushroom trees, and how I had supposedly died many years ago; I cried as I took this all in. I then decided to join the clan and I started venturing around the woods more and more, helping to gather food and scavenge for useful items in the rubble.

I then happened to meet a young girl living alone in the forest who had 'come back to life' as well and she was researching the mystery of her 'resurrection' alone in the forest, using the tools and parts she found in the rubble. She explained that the giant mushrooms are actually highly intelligent and complex organisms that can copy and produce DNA and biomass from other living things that have died or been buried near it, and in essence being them 'back to life' over many years. She proved this by pulling a piece of one of the branching mushroom heads off and showed me the many moving layers of gills underneath. She still didn’t understand where the mushrooms had come from and their purpose, since they appeared around the time of the apocalyptic event along with other strange wildlife. I also found out that I wasn’t the original me who died, I was simply a clone. This too was quite hard to take in and I started crying a bit over it. I then offered the girl to come back with me to live with my clan but she refused, saying she prefers to sustain herself so she can focus all of her attention on her research instead of other people. So instead I asked if I could come back one day to help in her research. She said yes, and she gave me a sorta cellphone device that she had hacked from all the debris in order to keep contact with her over long distance.

I returned back to the clan and I decided not to tell my parents or anyone about what I had learned about myself and the mushroom trees. Then for some reason my family randomly decided to leave the clan for a bit to visit my grandparents on horse and buggy. We ended up entering this complex/field of large houses in a circle, since my grandparents were fairly rich they were able to sustain such a living I guess? They were also living with my aunt and uncle and some other people too in the house. and so we went into their house and they got really emotional over seeing me. They showed us around, showing us all the stuff they had collected over the years; a kitchen full of supplies, and entire library full of all kinds of books, etc. then they all went to the living room while I stayed back in the book room and looked around. I found the book Alice in Wonderland and started crying for some reason over it. After that I went outside and saw my cousins and sister playing in the field; they had grown quite a lot since before I had died. So I went out and joined them in a game of tag. My grandparents and parents at some point came outside to watch us...

And then I woke up. I was kind of relieved it was just a dream, but I was also really disappointed because I wanted to see the rest of it. I may turn this into a book one day.

(For the record I had gone mushroom hunting the previous day, I had recently watched the Alice in Wonderland movie, and I was really missing my family at the time.)

This song just ended right before I clicked on this topic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD7eOgBp6UU

I talk to myself a lot, sometimes to an imaginary friend/person, or sometimes to a plush.

However, more often than not I talk to my computer, especially if it's being slow or the internet is being annoying.

So far I've been to Poland, Germany, France, Lithuania, England, Korea, and Bonaire (a Dutch island near the coast of Venezuela).

(Technically I've been to Japan too, but only briefly in the airport on the way to Korea T.T )

(I'm from the US)

The top places I'd like to visit one day are probably New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.

Also Egypt, Iceland, Argentina, Italy or Greece would be nice.

If we ever establish colonies on the Moon or Mars in my lifetime, I'd like to visit there too.

Even cooler if we build colonies on Venus floating in the atmosphere, I would love to travel there more than anywhere else.

Or if we happen to make interstellar travel efficiently possible through wormholes or teleportation or something, than I'd totally love to travel to Alpha-Centauri or some star system in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Hmm.... bionicles, legos, lincoln logs, tamagotchi, furbies, magnetix...

Does anyone else remember these things too? hahaha

It depends on how realistic we're talking.

If we're talking about a realistic kind of weekend, then my ideal weekend consists of as much isolation and quiet as possible while I have enough motivation to read/learn about random things, or to create something of my own, most likely a language, or to simply lie down somewhere and think/talk to myself in solitude.

If we're not talking realistically, then my ideal weekend consists of lying in a field of flowers, peace and quiet all around, the ground soft as the breeze flitting over the flowers themselves, and a perfect warmth radiating from the clear skies. A flawless, imaginary friend who understands me perfectly materializes next to me, and we huddle together in the gentle sunlight. We stare into each other's eyes, smiling and communicating without words, as if we're speaking telepathically. I forget all of my anxiety, my apprehension, my stress caused by the annoyances and dissatisfaction of reality. That is my ideal weekend.

One time I briefly ran away because I wanted to by this pokemon plush toy but I didn't have enough money, and instead my younger sister ended up buying it for herself to spite me.

Or often I would spend hours in the bathtub/shower mixing all the soaps and shampoos together hoping for some kind of chemical reaction.

But.... I think one of the dumbest things I did as a kid was I had these magnetix with the silver, metal balls. I would unscrew the lightbulb from my nightlight with it plugged in and drop the ball in it because it would make pretty sparks and make the power go out, which I happened to think was the coolest thing ever. My parents would always get confused about the power going out and then they'd hit the switches on the breaker in the garage... I don't think they ever figured out what I was doing till years later I grew up and I told them about it. Thank goodness the house never caught on fire or I was electrocuted... Actually, scratch that last one, I also would stick my finger in the nightlight to feel the shock, but I don't think it was that strong. Woops.

I really like Sabrina, mainly 'cause she's psychic and in the anime she seemed really cool.

I also like Valerie for her design and her fairy-type pokemon, and I really love Laverre City; it's probably the most magical looking city in all of the pokemon games!

As a child my favorite TV show would've been either Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Sonic X, Bakugan, or possibly Courage the Cowardly Dog... I remember my grandparents had some VHSs I would watch which included cartoons such as Felix the Cat or Woodie Woodpecker which I was quite fond of. I also remember watching Sailor Moon and Samurai X and stuff on Toonami which was fun...... Good times.

...the nostalgia, it hurts. 

I would have to say "Howl's Moving Castle" or "When Marnie Was There"; both are magical and amazing and breathtaking. I'm planning on reading the original novels they were based on sooner or later.

Ooh, this is a hard one......

How about.... Akiza from Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's and her Black Rose Dragon.

Are there any fans of Skulduggery Pleasant here? Has anyone thought about ponfying him and Valkyrie and the other characters? How would you name their ponyfied versions? How would you portray them in Equestria?