Lisa Feldman Barrett

disappointing. Well there wee some good bits but mostly the "bleedin' obvious" while claiming to be a near revolutionary reframing of psychology and brain studies. Against "essentialism", pro 'constructionism'. which comes down to denying that the brain has different parts for different jobs. The extreme was Phrenology which is pretty obviously junk , but she also rubbishes the idea of the limbic system , Broca's area and more which I think is over doing it. Modern science does recognise there are different bits for different jobs but the interaction between then is highly complex and almost beyond analysis, She goes too far towards the idea that .naming a feeling brings it into being, which she calls 'granularity'. given her anti mechanical view of the brain, that it's not like a computer she overuses the word 'wired' ad nauseam. Her chapter of advice arising from her supposedly deep innovative research is banal. Confirms my feeling that we humans will never really be able to understand us humans… (more)

This book defines the theory of constructed emotion

Thesis: Emotions are constructed - there is not an innate one-to-one correlation between a physical express and an emotion.

Research that suggested that there is a fixed set of facial expressions to codify emotions were based on flawed research. The research prejudiced the answers to fit the western model. Thus, the researchers methodology contaminated the results.

- Emotions are constructed
- Words are powerful in categorization
- Those with a limited set of emotional words have a limited ability to identify emotions

Contents
Introduction
1. The search for emotion’s “fingerprints”
2. Emotions are constructed
3. The mytho of universal emotions
4. The origin of feeling
5. Concepts, goals, and words
6. How the brain makes emotions
7. Emotions as social reality
8. A new view of human nature
9. Mastering your emotions
10. Emotions and illnes
11. Is a growling dog angry
12. From brain to mind: the new frontier
Thirteen more entries in the TOC

There is even an “Extended Endnote” wiki!
https://how-emotions-are-made.com/notes/Home

From the Glossary: Some terms that need to be understood to understand this book:

Affect
Your simplest feeling that continually fluctuates between pleasant and unpleasant, and between calm and jittery.

Affective niche
Everything that has any relevance to your body budget in the present moment.

Affective realism
The phenomenon that interoception influences what you see, hear, and otherwise perceive.

Essentialism
The belief that essences exist in nature, e.g., that fear and happiness have distinct biological causes.

Interoception
The brain’s representation of sensations from your body’s organs, tissues, hormones, and immune system.

Theory of constructed emotion
My theory of emotion. In every waking moment, your brain uses past experience, organized as concepts, to guide your actions and give your sensations meaning. When the concepts involved are emotion concepts, your brain constructs instances of emotion.

Triune brain
The myth that the brain evolved like a layer cake, with “cognitive” circuitry wrapped around “emotional” circuitry, allegedly permitting thoughts to control feelings.

Some related resources

https://www.centervention.com/list-of-emotions-135-words-that-express-feelings/
The list of emotions a typical pre-K child understands may be limited to happy, mad, sad, and scared. (A reference is given.)
They have programs for K-8

https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/list-of-emotions.html
A long page. They have a short list of emotions in sections according to several different theories of emotion. Then there is a longer list of emotions. Followed by a Further Reading section.… (more)

This is short (125 pages, plus notes) for a book about an organ which has upwards of 120 billion neurons); but then, the author does state quite clearly at the outset that, “I wrote this book of short, informal essays to intrigue and entertain you. It’s not a full tutorial on brains.” So fair enough.
    The general idea is to correct some popular misunderstandings, and it covers: what the brain does, its main job (and that’s not, primarily, thinking); its overall structure and how it is organised; how the brain of a newborn differs from, and eventually becomes, that of an adult; how the brain works, very broadly speaking, by making predictions about the world; the brain as a social entity; the extent to which minds can vary (particularly from one culture to another); and finally, how brains create our day-to-day experience.
    A lot to cover maybe, but Seven and a Half… is worth the read and sets straight a number of misconceptions, “facts” which are either out of date or just plain wrong. Such as: the “triune brain” idea (i.e. instincts, then emotions, then rationality) which is not just out of date, but decades out of date; or that the mind is continually “at war with itself” (instinct + emotion versus rationality): also nonsense. Then there’s the so-called “limbic system”, supposedly the source of the emotions: it doesn’t exist. Then there’s “left-hemisphere (logical, analytical) versus right-hemisphere (intuitive, holistic)”: pure rubbish. Or that it’s “nature versus nurture” in the development of infant brains: a pointless distinction. And what about the idea that there’s something fundamental called “human nature” which all of us, everywhere, share? There isn’t.
    Overall? This is well-written, and for anyone new to brain science who is reading their very first book on the subject, I reckon 7½… would be a good one to read second—just to set straight any lingering popular myths still being perpetuated by the first one.… (more)

The book looks at our overly simplistic view of emotions and presents a more dynamic and fluid explanation as to how to see them. The story is actually much deeper than appears beause the solution to the failure of identifying specific emotions from behaviour leads us to crisis in many aspects of social function, from justice to teaching, and animal rights.

It is really a great book, the only thing I didn’t appreciate is that some of the analogies were flat. But the breadth of the work of the author is eminently commendable and an exciting read.… (more)