ABSTRACT
Evolution has given each of one two ways of understanding the world–the cognitive and the emotional. Being a balanced knower does not mean being inflexibly tied to equally weighing emotion and clear-headed thought. Feeling securely connected and cared for is a state of mind. In some cases, a person’s sense of security comes not from their attachment to a parent, or even a person, but rather to an ideal. A person’s style of knowing is largely, but far from completely, dependent on inborn temperament or amygdala reactivity. It is possible, even as an adult, to learn new ways of inhibiting emotional reactivity and become a more cognitive knower, as well as to unlearn cognitive inhibitions and become a more emotional knower. Good mind reading does not require a perfectly balanced style of knowing or an always-even temperament. Already a risk taker and excitement seeker by temperament, on Prozac Nicholas completely lost his ability to read social danger.
