Who is in control of your emotions?

1) To what extent do you think we are able to control our emotions? Which emotion is the most
difficult to control?

Answer: The control over our emotions really depends on the emotion itself. Obviously when it
comes to emotions with such strong force behind it such as anger, disgust, excitement, pain,
love. These are all very difficult to contain and keep composure of. It isn't an impossible deed,
however, maintaining these hyperactive emotions in check will result in some strain mentally
and possibly physically. The most difficult emotion to control is perhaps either anger or fear as
they both tend to lead the body to act on emotion rather than rational reasoning. An example
would be that someone randomly punches me with no warning, anger will begin to swell up,
throwing away all of your calm and rational thinking in the bin. Emotions that usually are a
powerful driving force to make you act are the ones most difficult to control.

2) What evidence is there that human beings are more in control of their emotions than they
were, say, five hundred years?

Answer: In November 1516, all societies held very different beliefs compared to the modern era
due to it still being developed. The cultural beliefs and ethical laws were both vastly different if
we were to compare the two to now through anthropology. Because these two aspects were
different, people would have to act and behave differently in a society based on what they
believe is normal for them. Prejudice, discrimination, religion, conquests, human rights,
hierarchies are all factors that come into play for human behavior back in history. A standard
representation of this would be when interracial marriages back then were considered to be
extremely disgusting, as people would judge them based on their prejudice rather than their
wisdom. Since the social values were different back then, people had different concepts on what
was right or wrong, along with the fact that more corruption was seen then. It is because of
history's mistakes that our rules, laws, commandments, and constitutions develop in order to
prevent humans from not making the same mistakes again. But back then that wasn't the case
and since there weren't as many laws created, people were more reckless and naive of the
world. Basically, due to the many rules and laws we now have in our modern society, we are
more disciplined in our behavior and morals compared to the society five hundred years ago.

3) 'Crimes of passion' are often judged less harshly than crimes committed in cold blood. How, if
at all, can this difference be justified?

Answer: This particular justification will depend on each individual case itself, therefore no
generalization can be assumed. However, when a culprit murders the victim out of rage, regret,
or revenge, they're all humane emotions that were used to commit the crime out of their own
causes and beliefs. Taking actions based on what they thought and have the ambition to
execute, this is considered to be a very human cognitive process even though the actions they
did were a sin. Someone who commits the same sin but their actions based on a cold-blooded
 emotional basis with unreasonable motives can be seen as "ice-cold" or even "mechanical". To
the point where they aren't even human beings. Even revenge and other intense emotions were
originally triggered by positive reinforcing feelings such as love and compassion, which are all
qualities of a warm, beating heart.

Bibliography (MLA Format):

"ENDMEMO." Major World Events in 1500s. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
<http://www.endmemo.com/events/1500.php>.