Disembodied Learning

Does emotion play a role in knowledge? If it does have a role, is it positive or negative? A strong passion for anything will undoubtedly influence what you put into the knowledge. These passions can be negative or positive, but both have an effect. Humanity has a natural mental block against doing things they don't want to do. The real test of character is how well you get over this block. Making the best out of a class or any type of required knowledge is something that can become essential in life.

Emotion can definitely bias you towards a subject. Religion is an obvious example of this. Religion puts strong emotion in the minds of millions around the world. Many people wont give a moment towards the thought of stem cell research or evolution because of their religion. In cases like this, emotion is hindering the acquisition of knowledge. This is a negative side effect of emotion that can leave an individual blind to countless topics. The evolution of scientific knowledge was stunted for hundreds of years because religious law did not allow anything that could possibly disprove any canonical text. Things like this have held back knowledge since the birth of religion. In school, dislike of a teacher or subject may lead a student to not try their hardest. I've seen kids completely disregard a class because of this. This type of close-minded thinking is a shame. In cases like these, emotions are preventing the attainment of knowledge.



There is another side to this though. When an individual is passionate about a subject, they are more likely to put more time and effort into learning more about that subject. I am a self proclaimed history nerd. I have taken every social studies class that the school offers a year ahead of graduation. Along with that, I watch the History Channel almost every day. I plan to major in history when i go to college. Although history really has nothing to do with my career choice I enjoy learning about it so much that I am willing to put a great deal of time and money into it. Positive emotions towards an area of knowledge spurs the learner into putting more into that learning. Even just a love for knowledge in general can cause this. There are plenty of people that have an internal desire to learn more each day.

After required learning is over, how many people continue with the quest for knowledge? This is when you really understand what you truly enjoy learning about. Choosing to continue acquiring knowledge when it is not expected of you is the rawest way to show that you have a passion for something. This desire to learn has to have an emotional base which, in the long run, makes emotion a positive part of the learning process.