Let it all out: Casey Affleck with Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea.
Credit: Claire Folger

The time-honoured story of emotion goes something like this: we all have emotions built in from birth. They are distinct, recognisable phenomena inside us. When something happens in the world, whether it’s a gunshot or a flirtatious glance, our emotions come on quickly and automatically, as if someone has flipped a switch.

Modern science has an account that fits this story, which I call the classical view of emotion. According to this view, we have many emotional circuits in our brains, and each is said to cause a distinct set of changes – that is, a fingerprint. Perhaps an annoying co-worker triggers your “anger neurons”, so your blood pressure rises – you scowl, yell and feel the heat of fury. Or an alarming news story triggers your “fear neurons”, so your heart races – you freeze and feel a flash of dread.

Emotions are thought to be a kind of brute reflex, very often at odds with our rationality. This […]