How Emotions Are Made Book Summary - How Emotions Are Made Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

How Emotions Are Made summary

Lisa Feldman Barrett

The Secret Life of the Brain

4.1 (329 ratings)
17 mins

What is How Emotions Are Made about?

How Emotions Are Made (2017) challenges everything you think you know about emotions. From learning how our brain registers anger, fear and joy to how we think about these emotions culturally, you’ll come away with a new understanding of the ways in which emotions are created and how their scope is determined by society at large.

Table of Contents

    How Emotions Are Made
    summarized in 7 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 7

    The prevailing, classical view of emotions envisages them as hardwired into our brains.

    How hard is it to control your emotions? The consensus is that you may try to, but you simply can’t.

    The notion of emotions as reflexes – sometimes artifacts of evolution existing in a realm beyond the rational – has been around for millennia. It’s called the classical view, and it’s been espoused by everyone from Aristotle, Buddha, Darwin, Descartes and Freud, right through to modern-day thinkers such as Steven Pinker, Paul Ekman, and the Dalai Lama.

    This passive take on emotions is taught in psychology textbooks, and it’s reflected in the way the media discuss them. The classical view also sees emotions as universal. It’s assumed that emotions are hardwired and are automatically triggered in distinct regions of the brain.

    It’s thought that there’s a set of emotions that can be found across all humanity, and that each of these has an underlying property or “essence.” This concept is called essentialism. It assumes that each one of us is not only equally emotionally expressive but also capable of automatically recognizing the same emotions in others.

    It’s as if the brain were pre-wired with neurons for specific emotions. Once neurons are triggered, they produce physical responses. These characteristics are known as fingerprints, and it’s through these that emotions are identified.

    Imagine you have an annoying colleague. He will trigger “anger neurons,” which will consequently cause your blood to boil and your mouth to form a scowl.

    Or maybe a friend dies. In this case “sadness neurons” send off signals which might start you crying.

    Want to see all full key ideas from How Emotions Are Made?

    Key ideas in How Emotions Are Made

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    About the Author

    Lisa Feldman Barrett is University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She had also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Barrett received the National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award for her research on emotions in the brain and has published over 200 peer-reviewed, scientific papers that have appeared in Science, Nature, Neuroscience and other top psychology and cognitive neuroscience journals.

    Who should read How Emotions Are Made?

    • People interested in psychology and neuroscience
    • Those who want to better understand and control their emotions
    • Students of cultural studies and languages

    Categories with How Emotions Are Made

    Books like How Emotions Are Made

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    26 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial