ABSTRACT

Emotions are processes, after all. Emotions are features of any human system. They are not "contained within" the system, but rather omnipresent aspects of the systemic process. With an animal analogy, Dumouchel says that tigers cannot have emotions, whereas lions can; because lions, social mammals, use those very psychophysiological states we associate with emotions in order to coordinate with each other, whereas a tiger, who is not social, has the same internal states, but does not need any coordination. Emotions are features of any human system. They are not "contained within" the system, but rather omnipresent aspects of the systemic process. Emotional communication is indiscriminate. It is not always voluntary, nor it is directed to anybody in particular. Any emotional display is a complex message for others, and emotional interaction can be considered in its own right, rather than a mere consequence of some behaviours happening within the system.