I'm sleep deprived right now, things are getting 'weirder' lol. I 'should 'do this later... I seldom write in first person, but it seems easier right now. So I don' t think these comments exactly typical of mine. I hope there is some substance .

I try to keep two mental compartments, one where I do rational processing, the other where emotions occur. One is a noisy mess. From the other, rational thoughts flow. I struggle to 'rational-check' them, and form them into coherent sentences. I organize them later into subtopics they jump between uncontrollably. Inside the rational box there might be a sub-box I call the 'executive' area, that tries to make rational decisions about actions, instead of just streaming rational thoughts. There is also an executive area in the emotional box. But now after experience, I try to manage that box with the rational executive box. Actions need 'higher clearance'. So I don't consider myself especially 'spontaneous' lol.

Of emotions, I deem them all irrational in the most 'pure' sense of the term rational. That's an important basic distinction for rational thought. 'Thinking emotionally', if you know what I mean, can have negative consequences. We have different ways of describing emotions as rational or not, so I clarify mine. Emotions can have pragmatic utility, such a fear, but that isn't the same as my definition of rational. I know different people can have different, or even opposite emotions when placed in exactly the same situation. That also depends on the type of situation though. That inconsistency is one of the other factors I consider justification for classifying emotions as irrational.

There's a human context in which i deem caring (that kind of love) about others to be universally rational, and not caring universally irrational. It's deemed rational by pure rational thought itself. I mean that in the extended, justified, critical thinking sense of pure rational thought. Part of the justification is, that the emotion can potentially enhance a motivation to contribute to the primary purpose of life. That purpose, derived rationally, is to be healthy, as an individual and as a group. The term healthy has many implications, including being moral itself. So caring is an exception among emotions, it has a clear, consistent rational justification. The context is one I might call 'objective morality', a much longer discussion. So It's by rational choice I endeavor to 'actively' care, and empathize, more than I might 'passively'. Likewise self-caring is deemed rational and moral.

I can't exactly choose to quickly change an emotion to something other than what I'm feeling at a given moment, but I can quickly 'disempower' it sometimes, after my rational side reacts and judges 'appropriateness'. Over time, maybe this trains me to feel a bit more 'appropriately' to begin with, maybe. This is more true of transient situations than of my general emotional view of my overall life situation. But I work on that too, the same way.

I think of this all as 'rationally managing emotions'. I think it also helps me have more 'self awareness' psychologically.

I'm sleep deprived right now, things are getting 'weirder' lol. I 'should 'do this later... I seldom write in first person, but it seems easier right now. So I don' t think these comments exactly typical of mine. I hope there is some substance .
I try to keep two mental compartments, one where I do rational processing, the other where emotions occur. One is a noisy mess. From the other, rational thoughts flow. I struggle to 'rational-check' them, and form them into coherent sentences. I organize them later into subtopics since they jump between those uncontrollably. Inside the rational box there might be a sub-box I call the 'executive' area, that tries to make rational decisions about actions, instead of just streaming rational thoughts. There is also an executive area in the emotional box. But now after experience, I try to manage that box with the rational executive box. Actions need 'higher clearance'. So I don't consider myself especially 'spontaneous' lol.

Of emotions, I deem them all irrational in the most 'pure' sense of the term rational. That's an important basic distinction for rational thought. 'Thinking emotionally', if you know what I mean, can have negative consequences. We have different ways of describing emotions as rational or not, so I clarify mine. Emotions can have pragmatic utility, such a fear, but that isn't the same as my definition of rational. I know different people can have different, or even opposite emotions when placed in exactly the same situation. That also depends on the type of situation though. That inconsistency is one of the other factors I consider justification for classifying emotions as irrational.

There's a human context in which i deem caring (that kind of love) about others to be universally rational, and not caring universally irrational. It's deemed rational by pure rational thought itself. I mean that in the extended, justified, critical thinking sense of pure rational thought. Part of the justification is, that the emotion can potentially enhance a motivation to contribute to the primary purpose of life. That purpose, derived rationally, is to be healthy, as an individual and as a group. The term healthy has many implications, including being moral itself. So caring is an exception among emotions, it has a clear, consistent rational justification. The context is one I might call 'objective morality', a much longer discussion. So It's by rational choice I endeavor to 'actively' care, and empathize, more than I might 'passively'. Likewise self-caring is deemed rational and moral.

I can't exactly choose to quickly change an emotion to something other than what I'm feeling at a given moment, but I can quickly 'disempower' it sometimes, after my rational side reacts and judges 'appropriateness'. Over time, maybe this trains me to feel a bit more 'appropriately' to begin with, maybe. This is more true of transient situations than of my general emotional view of my overall life situation. But I work on that too, the same way.
I think of this all as 'rationally managing emotions'. I think it also helps me have more 'self awareness' psychologically.