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the origin and nature of emotions-第10章

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creased as the powerful stimulus of fear drains the cup of nervous energy even though no visible action may result。 An animal under the stimulus of fear may be likened to an automobile with the clutch thrown out but whose engine is racing at full speed。 The gasoline is being consumed; the machinery is being worn; but the machine as a whole does not move; though the power of its engine may cause it to tremble。

When this conception is applied to the human beings of today; certain mysterious phenomena are at once elucidated。  It must be borne in mind that man has not been presented with any new organs to meet the requirements of his present state of civilization; indeed; not only does he possess organs of the same type as those of his savage fellows; but of the same type also as those possessed by the lower animals even。 In fact; man has reached his present status of civilization with the primary equipment of brutish organs。  Perhaps the most striking difference between man and animals lies in the greater control which man has gained over his primitive instinctive reactions。 As compared with the entire duration of organic evolution; man came down from his arboreal abode and assumed his new role of increased domination over the physical world but a moment ago。 And now; though sitting at his desk in command of the complicated machinery of civilization; when he fears a business catastrophe his fear is manifested in the terms of his ancestral physical battle in the struggle for existence。  He cannot fear intellectually; he cannot fear dispassionately; he fears with all his organs; and the same organs are stimulated and inhibited as if; instead of it being a battle of credit; of position; or of honor; it were a physical battle with teeth and claws。  Whether the cause of acute fear be moral; financial; social; or stage fright; the heart beats wildly; the respirations are accelerated; perspiration is increased; there are pallor; trembling; indigestion; dry mouth; etc。 The phenomena are those which accompany physical exertion in self…defense or escape。  There is not one group of phenomena for the acute fear of the president of a bank in a financial crash and another for the hitherto trusted official who suddenly and unexpectedly faces the imminent probability of the penitentiary; or one for a patient who unexpectedly finds he has a cancer and another for the hunter when he shoots his first big game。 Nature has but one means of response to fear; and whatever its cause the phenomena are always the samealways physical。

If the stimulus of fear be repeated from day to day; whether in the case of a mother anxious on account of the illness of a child; a business man struggling against failure; a politician under contest for appointment; a broker in the daily hazard of his fortune; litigants in legal battle; or a jealous lover who fears a rival; the countless real as well as the baseless fears in daily life; in fact; all forms of fear; as it seems to me; express themselves in like terms of ancestral physical contests。  On this law; fear dominates the various organs and parts of the body。

Anger and fear express opposite emotional states。  Fear is the expression of a strong desire to escape from danger; anger; of a strong desire to attack physically and to vanquish opposition。 This hypothesis is strongly supported by the outward expressions of fear and of anger。  When the business man is conducting a struggle for existence against his rivals; and when the contest is at its height; he may clench his fists; pound the table; perhaps show his teeth; and exhibit every expression of physical combat。 Fixing the jaw and showing the teeth in anger merely emphasize the remarkable tenacity of phylogeny。  Although the development of the wonderful efficiency of the hands has led to a modification of the once powerful canines of our progenitors; the ancestral use of the teeth for attack and defense is attested in the display of anger。 In all stations of life differences of opinion may lead to argument and argument to physical combats; even to the point of killing。 The physical violence of the savage and of the brute still lies surprisingly near the surface (Fig。 21)。

We have now presented some of the reasons based largely on gross animal behavior why fear is to be regarded as a response to phylogenetic association with physical danger。  In further support of this hypothesis; I shall now present some clinical and experimental evidence。 Although there is not convincing proof; yet there is evidence that the effect of the stimulus of fear upon the body when unaccompanied by physical activity is more injurious than is an actual physical contest which results in fatigue without gross physical injury。 It is well known that the soldier who; while under fire; waits in vain for orders to charge; suffers more than the soldier who flings himself into the fray; and that a wild animal endeavoring to avoid capture suffers less than one cowering in captivity。 An unexpressed smouldering emotion is measurably relieved by action。 It is probable that the various energizing substances needed in physical combat; such as the secretions of the thyroid; the adrenals (Cannon); etc。; may cause physical injury to the body when they are not consumed by action (Fig。 22)。

That the brain is definitely influenceddamaged even by fear has been proved by the following experiments: Rabbits were frightened by a dog but were neither injured nor chased。 After various periods of time the animals were killed and their brain…cells compared with the brain…cells of normal animals wide…spread changes were seen (Fig。 13)。 The principal clinical phenomena expressed by the rabbit were rapid heart; accelerated respiration; prostration; tremors; and a rise in temperature。  The dog showed similar phenomena; excepting that; instead of such muscular relaxation as was shown by the rabbit; it exhibited aggressive muscular action。 Both the dog and the rabbit were exhausted but; although the dog exerted himself actively and the rabbit remained physically passive; the rabbit was much more exhausted。

Further observations were made upon the brain of a fox which had been chased for two hours by members of a hunt club; and had been finally overtaken by the hounds and killed。 Most of the brain…cells of this fox; as compared with those of a normal fox; showed extensive physical changes (Fig。 4)。

The next line of evidence is offered with some reservation; but it has seemed to me to be more than mere idle speculation。 It relates to the phenomena of one of the most interesting diseases in the entire category of human ailmentsI refer to exophthalmic goiter; or Graves' disease; a disease primarily involving the emotions。 This disease is frequently the direct sequence of severe mental shock or of a long and intensely worrying strain。 The following case is typical:  A broker was in his usual health up to the panic of 1907; during this panic his fortune and that of others were for almost a year in jeopardy; failure finally occurring。 During this heavy strain he became increasingly nervous and by imperceptible degrees there developed a pulsating enlargement of the thyroid gland; an increased prominence of the eyes; marked increase in perspirationprofuse sweating evenpalpitation of the heart; increased respiration with frequent sighing; increase in blood…pressure; there were tremor of many muscles; rapid loss of weight and strength; frequent gastro…intestinal disturbances; loss of normal control of his emotions; and marked impairment of his mental faculties。 He was as completely broken in health as in fortune。 These phenomena resembled closely those of fear and followed in the wake of a strain which was due to fear。

In young women exophthalmic goiter often follows in the wake of a disappointment in love; in women; too; it frequently follows the illnesses of children or parents during which they have had to endure the double strain of worry and of constant care。 Since such strains usually fall most heavily upon women; they are the most frequent victims of this disease。  Now; whatever the exciting cause of exophthalmic goiter; whether it be unusual business worry; disappointment in love; a tragedy; or the illness of a loved one; the symptoms are alike and closely resemble the phenomena of one of the great primitive emotions。  How could disappointment in love play a role in the causation of Graves' disease?  If the hypothesis which has been presented as an explanation of the genesis and the phenomena of fear be correct; then that hypothesis explains also the emotion of love。  If fear be a phylogenetic physical defense or escape which does not result in muscular action; then love is a phylogenetic conjugation without physical action。 The quickened pulse; the leaping heart; the accelerated respiration; the sighing; the glowing eye; the crimson cheek; and many other phenomena are merely phylogenetic recapitulations of ancestral acts。 The thyroid gland is believed to participate in such physical activities。 Hence it may well follow that the disappointed maiden who is intensely integrated for a youth will; at every thought of him; be subjected by phylogenetic association to a specific stimulation analogous to that which attended t
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