Which emotion is most powerful, do you think?

[Taryn]

Is depression an emotion? It seems to control my life sometimes though...

[Datadog]

Depression is anger turned inwards, so it probably counts.

[DeadPoolX]

Depression is anger turned inwards, so it probably counts.

Not always. Someone might have clinical depression, which is quite different from getting "depressed" over a bad test grade or getting dumped.

[Tawmis]

Depression is anger turned inwards, so it probably counts.

Not always. Someone might have clinical depression, which is quite different from getting "depressed" over a bad test grade or getting dumped.

Well we could get technical, and say that anger isn't a powerful emotion either, because there's those that suffer from Schizophrenia - and suddenly have bursts of very random anger.

I think we're discussing just on a very general term here.

[Tinuviel]

In general, I think fear is the strongest emotion. It's so strong it will push people to make a decision quickly because of it. Love, while strong, does not seem to have as powerful of an impact on the need to make a decision.

Granted, this is just my impression/opinion.

[Datadog]

In both cases, fear and love can do some pretty impressive stuff with adrenaline.

[DeadPoolX]

Depression is anger turned inwards, so it probably counts.

Not always. Someone might have clinical depression, which is quite different from getting "depressed" over a bad test grade or getting dumped.

Well we could get technical, and say that anger isn't a powerful emotion either, because there's those that suffer from Schizophrenia - and suddenly have bursts of very random anger.

I think we're discussing just on a very general term here.

I think you're misunderstanding me here. I never claimed that depression isn't a powerful emotion. I merely made the distinction between clinical depression (as defined by the DSM-IV-TR) and what most people casually refer to as depression.

[Almirena]

We can see examples of people doing things they would never in cold blood have thought they could do - where love has given them strength beyond their means, and courage to trample over their fears in an instant, and perseverance where otherwise they would have given up.

Fear, as something that probably has influence from a number of sources (fear is certainly more chemical-based, as evidenced by various studied), can also give a rush of strength and it can also lead people to do things they can barely live with.

We are such complicated things - John Donne wrote "I am a little world made cunningly Of elements and an angelic sprite". There is no better way of saying it.

[Maiandra]

We are such complicated things - John Donne wrote "I am a little world made cunningly Of elements and an angelic sprite". There is no better way of saying it.

I like that quotation. I imagine some people might argue the "angelic" part of it, though.

I think that on a basic, instinctive level most people respond to fear/caution first, as a matter of survival. However, being the complex creatures that we are, that can be checked by another emotion, if strong enough, or rational thought. This is why I tend to think it depends on the situation.

Gorgeous tag, Tin. I'm so glad that we can have custom, reasonable-sized tags again. It allows for much more personality.

[Tinuviel]

I'll agree that both fear and love have some crazy impact on people...I don't think any other emotions could make people do things that are so irrational. :p

Thanks Maia. Once I finally got around to putting up a different tag, I realized I didn't have my PSP installed from the last reformat of the hard drive. It's really nice to be able to customize that again.

[Tawmis]

Granted, this is just my impression/opinion.

There is no wrong or right answer here, anyway! It's not a 1+1 kind of question! So that's all that's being asked is opinions! So I am glad ye shared it!

[Almirena]

I thought we were going to receive pass/fail marks for this question!

[Tawmis]

I sure hope not. I fail at enough things...

[Collector]

Time's up! Pencils down! Pass your tests to the front...

[DeadPoolX]

Can I cheat on the test like Roger does in SQ5?