91av

Emotion by Dylan Evans, Oxford University Press, £9.99, ISBN
019285433X

MENFOLK of New Guinea’s Gururumba people experience an emotion that no one
experiences anywhere else. They describe it as “being a wild pig”. In its grip
they feel an urge to run wild, loot and attack bystanders. Unlike joy, distress,
anger, fear, surprise and disgust, “being a wild pig” is not innate. Emotions
can be culturally acquired, and every one has a purpose.

You’ll have to read Dylan Evans’s Emotion to find out why Gururumba men need
to “be a wild pig”. This book is a charming primer on the up-and-coming science
of emotions. Evans explains how they evolved to help our ancestors survive in a
hostile environment and why “emotional intelligence” is still essential in the
modern world. This pocket-sized guide is also for those seeking to tame their
emotions through “technologies of mood”, chemical or otherwise. It warns how
emotions can affect reasoning and memory.

As Evans acknowledges, it’s impossible to cover all the angles in a small
book, and Emotion is light on neurobiology. So it is a pity he devotes so much
valuable space to the development of “emotional machines”. This is a mistake,
because physiology is intrinsic to the experience of emotions: the beating
heart, the adrenalin rush. He looks forward to the day when computers can tell
if you’re in a foul mood the moment you boot them up and, instead of asking you
for your password, would tell a few jokes. I fear users of such an emotional PC
might “be a wild pig” and punch its lights out.