Individual emotions shape societal awareness

The role of access- and phenomenal- consciousness in driving the behavior of humans and animals is widely discussed. In the article devoted to the identity of mind and brain *, I draw attention to the role of emotions in shaping our beliefs, aspirations and making decisions.

The question arises whether social awareness plays a similar role. Let's take as an example the emotions of fear of even a seemingly omnipotent man in charge of a powerful state, who is afraid that his position will be shaken by another man in charge of a small state that is actually largely dependent on his decisions. It seems that his awareness, strengthened by his position, allows him to enforce his will, especially since he can expect wonderful and desirable effects from his actions in the moral and material sphere.

We can see here the power of emotions, the influence of which paralyzes definitely beneficial behavioral reactions.

On the other hand, the same emotion of fear has a mobilizing effect on the consciousness of the other person who, fearing the consequences of previously committed crimes, is ready to expose millions of people to attrition just to eliminate them. Here, fear generates enormous determination, leading to the release of all moral inhibitions with dramatic material consequences.

I wonder how such a different impact of such a simple emotion can be explained psychologically and even more neurologically.

It is also interesting that observers are more impressed by the effectiveness of actions in the second case and, despite moral doubts, most people accept or support such decisive and effective actions.

Suppose an example of such a situation was a clever attempt to exterminate the inhabitants of the enclave in this small country by depriving people of the opportunity to feed and educate their children, which leads to the intellectual underdevelopment and physical stunting of an entire generation of children, and even to the starvation of a large part of the population. In that case, the indifference of people, which we observe, is astonishing https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/israel-hamas/2024/05/04/gaza-famine-israel-hamas-war-world-food-program/73567949007/ **. Also, the inaction of politicians and the abdication of intellectual elites in setting moral standards is incomprehensible.

The observed confrontation of the above-mentioned top politicians' awareness affects public awareness.

This societal awareness is profoundly distorted by a superficial approach to moral norms. Because we've questioned the transcendent origin of these norms, we don't take them seriously. At most, we acknowledge them for the sake of political correctness. What we fail to grasp, is that they are integral to our emotional nature, arising from empathy and love. Can we afford to keep dismissing this aspect of our humanity?

* Article Mind–brain identity theory confirmed?