Why is it that anger leaves our brains unable to rationalize and make balanced decisions and judgments. Anger and disappointment act as the tear gas of thoughts. Its like we are not ourselves anymore. Why is that?
I don't have a huge neurological knowledge basis. But if I were using the knowledge I do have, perhaps interference and bias would be the answer. Interference because there is the thing that is bothering us that is very high in our attention and anything else we need to process needs to compete with these thoughts to be given any consideration. Also, because we are angry, we will be biased. Anger is a negative emotion, to I would think we would be biased towards accepting negative information and reject positive ones. Also, if the information presented to us conflicts with what we are mad about, self-serving bias creeps in. We dissociate with information that doesn't fit into our frame of thoughts.
Perhaps this is why it is no good arguing with an angry person. They might think they are thinking clearly but to us they are irrational and unrelenting. It is perhaps easier and safer to let it go until they cool down and can once again think clearly. Even though they might not be angry later, they will still have biases, but at least the cloud will be thinner and easier to get through.
This bring me to my next point, what do you do with someone who is always mad whenever something specific comes up they don't agree with? Do you simply let them have their way or confront them about their issues? Obviously if they are not corrected, they will continue to think that they are right and there is no other way. So perhaps that cycle of thinking needs to be broken. At the same time, no one likes confrontation. Especially with someone you don't know too well. What do you do then?
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