Bertvan wrote:
[...]
CC>No. They exist as states and processes in the real world (in
CC>people's brains). They can even be *measured*.
BV>Please tell me more about these scientific methods capable of
BV>measuring hate and love in the human brain. :-)
Research is being done to provide methods to quantify affect.
One example that I know of is the research of W. Jackson Davis
at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who has been
working on quantifying affect in humans for some time now. By
combining facial electromyography with standard subject slides
used in psychology for self-report of affect, Davis has
obtained good correlation between sub-threshold activation of
facial musculature and self-report of affect. The pattern of
activation indicates categories of affect (e.g., happy, sad,
etc.) and the amplitude (or more precisely, the area within
the envelope of the bursts) gives information on degree. In
other words, Davis is able to both categorize and quantify
affective states in humans via facial electromyography.
Wesley
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