It is behavior that define one either a human or animal: Eros of Desires and Telos of Emotions
Human behavior is term to dub a person’s action and conduct which is cardinal of Psychology.
Behavior of a person not only bear upon himself but others around him. Behavior of person is affected by various factors (intrinsic and extrinsic). From days of yore, study of human behavior has been the hobbyhorse of the big enchiladas whether philosopher, leader, sages or statesmen.
Human behavior sprouts from three premier sources: desire, emotion and knowledge. These are the things ad hoc in men but in varying degrees. Desire, instinct, impulse, appetite — all are one; Emotion, courage, ambition, spirit — all are one; Knowledge, intellect, reason, though — all are one. Societies, states, countries and groups tabulated on human behavior and nature. As Plato quoted, “Like men, like state”; “governments vary as characters of men vary,….. states are made out of the human nature which are in them”; government and states represent aggregate behavior of their denizens.
Behavior of individuals or nations is boon or bane depends on from which origin it is educed from. Desire is that what is present in commonality to authority and desires motivates them to perform tasks in their life.
Desires are infinite and after each desire is fulfilled new ones come into being. Humans who follow their desires blindly are bamboozled by it to an extent that there remains no distinction between humans and animals as basic desires of food, reproduction, territorial gain and supremacy etc are all present in animals but human take these craving, veracity and lechery to elevation through greed, jealousy, hatred, lust etc for material things.
Then these desires erupt into human misery, doom and annihilation.
As Mahatma Buddha said, “Desires are root cause of all evils”.
In order to become safe from anathema of desires it should be subdued to the level of necessity or subsistence.
Emotions are another source of behavior and it is also believed that basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust are experienced by both humans and animals. Emotions and desires are married as emotions evoke desires and desires muster emotions.
For example, hating someone can give rise to desire to hurt or kill him and desire to achieve material gain give rise to anxiety and distress. “When you experience the emotion of sadness, there will be changes in facial expression, and your body will be closed in, withdrawn.
How emotions and feelings affect human mind and body is elaborated by Antonio Damasio. Emotions can also unleash evil if not controlled.
Uncontrolled emotions can sky in failure of human intelligence and cognition, inducing havoc in mind and body, failure to understand the situation, not acting accordingly and ripen into negative choices.
When a person is in rage and anger, he is more likely to make choices which he will regret later and in the name of love for oneself, our kin and people, we subdue, hurt and kill others all around the world. This is the folly of uncontrolled and blind emotions.
An emotion can be powerful enough to take over what brain decree and it subjugate logical reasoning that often spin off to negative emotional repercussions and lost of serenity and tranquility.
Emotions and desires both make humans blind to see what is right, deaf to hear what is truth and dumb to speak what is reasonable and accurate. Materialistic desires and emotions attached to it are presently impetus of our societies and masses which is promoting anxiety and depression in populace.
As they desire progressively and struggle to fill the unfillable void as desires can only end with ones life and emotions which are linked to these insatiable materialistic desires are leading humans toward a path of darkness where there is an aura of emptiness inside them. This darkness and hollowness, we feel inside ourselves is rewiring wrong emotions with wrong sources.
We are searching for happiness in money, wealth, fame and power which metamorphose into our desires and to accomplish them, we are eager and psyched up to go to any extent which is framing greed, jealousy, hatred, lust, anger and all other vices not to be condemnable features of human society anymore.
But desires and emotions are innate in every human being and in order to subdue and control them as they cannot be eliminated entirely as there are also efficacious one in them. For this purpose, we need knowledge, the power of intellect, the capability of reasoning and realm of thoughts. Knowledge become eyes of desires and emotions properly channeling them for good, eliminating their villainy.
A man of wisdom is better than man of desires and emotions as he know how to control the devil inside him.
It is said that desires come from loins, emotions from heart and knowledge from brain, not undermining the laurels of loins and heart but it is superior that brain leads the body.
We are thriving in a world in which knowledge, wisdom and reasoning has become scarce; materialistic desires and detrimental emotions prevail and are inflating day by day. Our world has bob up to unstable form as our leaders and elite desires for power and our masses emotionally attached to kin, castes, color, creeds, sects and nationalities and to satisfy their hunger and thirst for material things at all cost.
The beneficial and supreme desire for knowledge and wisdom has extinct, and the consequential world is tantamount to breeding ground of war, catastrophe, persecution and genocide. We are not ready to acquiesce where our desires and emotions have lead us, a world polarized, perilous, malignant and ready to free fall like a tree which had been made hollow from inside by termites.
We contend to have awareness and intellect but that is bogus, cooked up and misleading, we have only lore to fulfill our desires and follow our emotions but not the wisdom which discriminate between good and evil and control our desires and emotions. Wisdom which articulate patience and spirit of forgiveness inside, which is the need of sapiens and terrene.
“As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely” — Madame de Stael.
Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) who was not only last Prophet of Islam but a great leader, supreme administrator and just lawmaker known to the World also stress on importance of wisdom and knowledge and the inanity which desires and emotions can bring on humankind.
To put a check on whims and mania of desires and emotions was always preached by him as he lived a simple life of sustenance without any luxury and his companions followed the same path setting examples for all to come after their time.
