Can You Really Trust Your Feelings? | Lisa Feldman Barrett & John Dunne

About this episode

<p>A common idea in the west is that our feelings or emotions should be viewed with suspicion, superseded or overridden by rational thought, and that your mind is a battleground between emotions and rationality. But on the show today, guests Lisa Feldman Barrett and John Dunne are going to offer a very compelling science backed argument that disputes the notion that thinking and feeling are distinct. Furthermore, they argue that understanding how emotions are actually made can be a life or death matter. </p> <p><br /></p> <p>Lisa Feldman Barrett is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University with appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Barrett is among the top 1% most-cited scientists, having published over 270 peer-reviewed scientific papers.  She has written several books, including <a href= "https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/lisa-feldman-barrett/how-emotions-are-made" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain</em></a>, and <a href= "https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/seven-and-a-half-lessons-about-the-brain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain</a>. Her <a href= "https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_feldman_barrett_you_aren_t_at_the_mercy_of_your_emotions_your_brain_creates_them?language=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TED talk</a> has been viewed more than 6.5 million times.</p> <p><br /></p> <p>John Dunne holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. He earned his PhD from Harvard. </p> <p><br /></p> <p>This is part two in a series we're calling <em>The Art and Science of Keeping Your Sh*t Together</em>. In each episode we bring together a meditative adept or Buddhist scholar and a respected scientist. The idea is to give you the best of both worlds to arm you with both modern and ancient tools for regulating your emotions. </p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>In this episode we talk about:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Lisa's scientific definition of emotions</li> <li>John's Buddhist contention that emotions, as a category, do not exist in Buddhism </li> <li>The difference between suffering and discomfort</li> <li>What we can do to master our emotions including understanding what Lisa terms as our "body budget" </li> <li>Becoming more emotionally intelligent</li> <li>Mastering our feelings in the moment</li> <li>Whether or not pain is an emotion and how it works</li> <li>How and why to be present in the here and now</li> <li>The upside of unpleasant feelings</li> </ul> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><strong>Full Shownotes:</strong> <a href= "https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/lisa-feldman-barrett-john-dunne-520" rel="noopener noreferrer" target= "_blank">https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/lisa-feldman-barrett-john-dunne-520</a></p>