ABSTRACT
Mr Spock in Star Trek often points out to Captain Kirk how much energy human beings waste through reacting emotionally to things, when a more logical and rational approach would be more productive. But would we be human if we did not react in this way? This is not to advocate ‘being emotional’ in the sense of losing control of our feelings, or being unable to consider things in a calm and detached way; but it is the richness of our emotions, and our capacity to both have feelings and think things through and reason that makes us unique as a species. Emotions set the tone of our experience and give life its vitality. Emotions are internal factors that can energize, direct and sustain behaviour.1
