Are Feelings Facts

A stream of consciousness through the mechanisms of mentality

Jul 06, 2023

Are feelings facts?

He gave me a book titled in the affirmative. I haven’t read it yet but it’s not because of the name.

When we first met I needed him to know that I don’t believe in shared experiences. That feels related.1

“5-Hydroxytryptophan is a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor as well as a metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin.”2 “Serotonin (/ˌsɛrəˈtoʊnɪn, ˌsɪərə-/)or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vasoconstriction. Approximately 90% of the serotonin the human body produces is in the gastrointestinal tract's enterochromaffin cells, where it regulates intestinal movements.”3

“Serotonin is often called the body's natural ‘feel-good’ chemical …”4

“Serotonin controls your mood and is responsible for happiness.”5

“Serotonin modulates virtually all human behavioral processes.”6

How does that make you feel?

“The neurochemicals dopamine and serotonin are involved in perception, working at sub-second speeds to shape how people perceive the world and take action …”78

5-HTP supplements are made from extracts of the seeds of the African climbing shrub Griffonia simplicifolia Baill (Caesalpiniaceae).

Caesalpinioideae is a subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae.9

Levodopa (L-Dopa), the precursor to dopamine, is found in a climbing legume Mucuna pruriens (also Fabaceae) (also “The Magic Velvet Bean”).10

Are feelings facts?

By feelings do you mean emotions?

“The list of primary emotions varies across different theorists. They often include fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, contempt, and surprise; some theorists also include shame, shyness, and guilt.” Primary emotions: “Any one of a limited set of emotions that typically are manifested and recognized universally across cultures.”11

Which come first?

“In the primary case, in the standard situation, feelings come first.” “While an emotion is the biological response to a trigger, the feeling is the conscious evaluation or appraisal of what we are experiencing. So, once we have noticed the physical experience of the emotion, the mental sensations that arise are known as the feeling.”12

Are feelings the changing of the chemical tides? Are they the chemicals in the currents, or the water itself. Are they the thoughts that dump the substances into the sea or the ideas that our natural drugs generate like oil slicks on the surface?

One of my favorite recent explorations has been into where physical and emotional pain merge.

sketching tattoo placements after Grandma’s death

“Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. Endorphins are released by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in response to pain or stress, this group of peptide hormones both relieves pain and creates a general feeling of well-being. The name of these hormones comes from the term ‘endogenous morphine.’“13