3 minute read. Content warning: None.
- you capture a memory. Is it a feeling or an emotion? (3)
chatGPT Summary: Kay explores the distinction between feelings and emotions, reflecting on how memories evolve with time and perspective, and considers incorporating textile metaphors and textures into their artistic explorations.
Vancouver, on unceded MST territory – I like this question. I could read it as a binary, as if SC is asking, “Is a memory either a feeling or an emotion?” or as an open-ended prompt that translates to, “What is a captured memory made of?”
I asked chatGPT what the difference was between a feeling and an emotion.
[chatGPT: ] The terms “feeling” and “emotion” are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings in psychology:
1. Emotion: Emotions are complex psychological states that involve three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response. Emotions are typically intense and short-lived. Examples include joy, anger, sadness, and fear. Emotions are often automatic and can be triggered by external events or internal thoughts.
2. Feeling: Feelings are the conscious experience of emotional reactions. They are the subjective interpretation of emotions, meaning how we personally interpret and experience an emotion. Feelings can be more subtle and long-lasting than emotions. For example, while you might experience the emotion of anger in response to a specific event, the feeling might be interpreted as irritation or frustration, and this feeling can linger even after the initial emotional response has passed.
In summary, emotions are the initial reactions that involve physiological and behavioral responses, while feelings are the personal, conscious experience and interpretation of those emotions.
[Kay: ] Thank you. This is quite illuminating. Did you pull this from any particular source?
[chatGPT: ] The explanation I provided is based on commonly accepted concepts in psychology, drawing on various sources and general psychological understanding. While I didn’t pull this from a single specific source, it reflects widely accepted distinctions between feelings and emotions in psychological literature and educational resources. For a more in-depth study, you might look into works by psychologists who specialize in emotion research, such as Paul Ekman or Robert Plutchik.
“What’s the difference between a feeling and an emotion”, asked to chatGPT 4o on July 1st, 2024.
So, based on commonly accepted psychology as regurgitated by chatGPT, memory is about feelings. We may have had an emotional response at the time, but the feelings linger. There are the feelings we had during and immediately after the emotion, and the feelings as we process the experience. And then, any new feelings our current selves may experience in returning to that memory. I like how inconsistent feelings may be as we return to a memory and how returning to it may completely alter it. Looking back on something sad that left me raw and vulnerable might add the pigments of satisfaction and respect when I am in a stable mental state, and I can see how the experience has allowed me to become more prepared for a similar situation. Something joyful that gave me confidence and comfort might become heavy and abrasive when I look at it from a place of depression and a lack of self-confidence, telling myself that I no longer deserve that feeling again. I hesitate to call memory, or at least my memory, a tapestry because I am always unweaving and reweaving things. I look at it in different lights and through different coloured gels, then add and remove materials when I return to a section. The loom as a metaphor for time suggests that the pattern is woven and cannot be undone without unravelling the rest, but I know that isn’t true. Any skilled weaver or textile worker can remove a section, cauterizing the surrounding weave so that it can either remain unfilled or surgically altered with new weavings in the future. Anything woven can accept new materials, even if it looks messy and layered. I like the idea that I am disturbing the idea of the tapestry of time. It is the loom that is constant, but the idea that the weaving cannot be undone, added to, restored, or altered is not accurate.
This has me thinking about textiles and weaving. While I’m unsure if I’m ready to tackle a loom (although who knows what my energy levels will be like next week), exploring texture and illustrative weaving is on the menu. I am already thinking about forests and morphing containers. Now, how do I bring layers and textures to my explorations?
Technology note:
I continue to test the use of AI within my writing and artistic practice. I used chatGPT to create a summary for this blog, and Grammarly to assist me in spelling and grammar.