You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

moridinamael comments on Open Thread August 31 - September 6 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Elo 30 August 2015 09:26PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (326)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: OrphanWilde 01 September 2015 06:12:33PM *  2 points [-]

Something which may prove interesting to somebody here:

A tentative list of internal states (certainly incomplete), divided into emotions and mental states. I distinguish between emotions and mental states on the basis of something I can't quite put my finger on, but I'm reasonably certain there -is- a difference, something like the difference between color photographs and black-and-white photographs. (It's quite fuzzy in some places, though, so not everything neatly fits in one or the other. Suspicious/paranoid, for example, I quibble about the placement of.) I've done a few passes at combining emotions I suspect are identical except for context and intensity. You'll notice emotions like "Happy" and "Angry" aren't present - unless somebody can correct me, I think these aren't distinct emotions in and of themselves, but simplifications of a broad range of more complex emotions. (A couple permutations of "Angry" show up under "Rage"). Some words show up multiple times, where the word appears to refer to more than one emotional state, with clarifications.

Out of the emotions listed, I experience somewhere around a third of them, which makes it hard to evaluate how distinct they actually are, and in other places leads me to incorrectly consider them separate internal states. Of the mental states, I experience most of them (which is why I think the sorting criteria isn't -entirely- arbitrary). Of the uncertain - I have no idea whether those things are actually distinct feelings, or just ways people describe other people's behavior, so it's safe to say, if they are experiencable, they're in those things I don't experience.

The list is largely comprised of entries from the following list: https://robbsdramaticlanguages.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/vocabulary-expand.jpg.

Some I've omitted as being, as far as I can tell, embellishments. I've added others, as well.

Emotions:

  • Abandoned/Alienated/Rejected/Discarded/Deserted (Distinct?)
  • Abused/Put-Upon/Exploited/Used (Distinct?)
  • Acceptance
  • Appreciated
  • Appreciative
  • Apalled/Disturbed/Horrified (Distinct?)
  • Amorous/Horny
  • Amusement
  • Anxious/Tense
  • Ascendant/Transcendant
  • Ashamed/Shameful (Distinct?)
  • Assured/Reassured (Distinct?)
  • Awkward
  • Bittersweet
  • Burdened
  • Cheated/Deceived/Betrayed
  • Cheery
  • Compassionate
  • Condemned/Doomed
  • Confident/Self-Certain
  • Controlled/Constrained/Trapped/Smothered/Stifled/Coerced/Dominated (Distinct?)
  • Craving/Attraction/Desire (Generalized)
  • Crushed/Defeated
  • Delight/Joy (Distinct?)
  • Degraded/Defiled
  • Demoralized
  • Depressed/Dejected/Dispirited (All-encompassing negativity)
  • Desperate
  • Despised/Hated (Distinct?)
  • Determined
  • Disappointed
  • Disenchanted
  • Disgusted/Repulsed (Distinct?)
  • Disgraced
  • Disheartened/Discouraged (Distinct?)
  • Divinity/Inspiration
  • Doubtful
  • Dread
  • Elation
  • Embarrassed
  • Empty
  • Enchanted
  • Encouraged
  • Ennui/Lacking direction (Distinct?)
  • Enthusiastic
  • Envy
  • Fear/Fearful/Averse (Distinct?)
  • Fortunate/Lucky (Distinct?)
  • Frustrated (Limited)
  • Frustrated (Exasperated)
  • Fulfilled
  • Grateful
  • Grief/Mourning
  • Harassed
  • Helpless
  • Hopeful
  • Hopeless
  • Humbled (Awed)
  • Humbled (Intimidated)
  • Humbled (Status drop-ish)
  • Humbled/Insecure (Unworthy)
  • Humiliated
  • Hurt/Wounded (Distinct?)
  • Ill-will
  • Inadequate
  • Indignant
  • Indulged/Gratified/Satisfied
  • Irritated/Annoyed/Provoked (Distinct?)
  • Isolated/Lonely
  • Jealous
  • Lost
  • Loved
  • Love (Towards others)
  • Love (Towards self)
  • Misunderstood
  • Neglected/Uncared for/Unappreciated (Distinct?)
  • Nervous/Tense/Panicked (Distinct?)
  • Offended
  • Optimistic
  • Peaceful (At peace)
  • Perplexed/Confused/Puzzled (Distinct?)
  • Pessimistic
  • Pitiful (Others)
  • Pitiful/Litost (Self)
  • Protective
  • Proud
  • Rage (Righteous/Outrage)
  • Rage (Seething)
  • Rage (Vengeful)
  • Reckless
  • Rebellious
  • Regretful
  • Relieved
  • Resentful
  • Resigned
  • Resolved
  • Respected/Admired
  • Respectful/Admiring
  • Restless
  • Revolationary/Inspired
  • Schadenfreude
  • Scheming
  • Sorry/Apologetic
  • Spiteful
  • Suspicious/Paranoid
  • Thrilled
  • Torn
  • Uncertain/Unsure/Undecided (Distinct?)
  • Undesired/Unwanted (Distinct?)
  • Unloved
  • Uncomfortable/Unsettled
  • Vulnerable/Threatened/Timid (Distinct?)
  • Worthless

Mental States:

  • Alarmed
  • Apprehensive
  • Ambivalent
  • Amused
  • Bewildered/Confused
  • Defensive/Guarded
  • Depressed (Low-emotion)
  • Distant
  • Distracted
  • Drained
  • Energetic
  • Excited
  • Exhausted
  • Equanimous
  • Flustered
  • Frantic
  • Manic (High-emotion)
  • Overwhelmed/Petrified/Stunned (Distinct?)
  • Reluctant
  • Shocked/Startled/Shaken (Distinct?)
  • Skeptical
  • Surprised/Startled

Uncertain:

  • Apathetic
  • Deprived
  • Dismayed
  • Disrespected/Slighted
  • Distressed
  • Exuberance
  • Flattered
  • Hesitant
  • Jubilant
  • Patronized
  • Patronizing
  • Pleased
  • Shy
  • Tolerant
  • Wasted
Comment author: moridinamael 02 September 2015 05:34:27PM 0 points [-]

This is useful. Do you have experience with Focusing? Part of the workflow is to sit with your emotional state and gently try to discern what label applies to it. This can be hard because sometimes the feeling is complex or unclear, but I expect part of the difficulty lies in a simple lack of vocabulary with which to label the feeling.

Comment author: OrphanWilde 02 September 2015 09:00:58PM 0 points [-]

The biggest issue from my perspective is that the labels don't immediately connect to any kind of easily-communicable qualia, so even if you know the correct label, you don't necessarily have a good way of connecting the label to the feeling. (That said, the only emotion I required outside assistance to identify was a generalized anxiety, which didn't feel at all like I expected it to. I expected anxiety to be definitively unpleasant, and it was merely ambiguously so.)