Narrator: On a clear Halloween morning in the Mojave Desert, the Virgin Galactic spaceship Enterprise was on a critical test flight. As it ascended, co-pilot Michael Alsbury performed a routine procedure, unlocking the ship’s air-braking system. But he did it 14 seconds too early. At that speed and altitude, the atmospheric forces were immense. The unlocked brake deployed on its own, and within four seconds, the ship ripped apart. The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that the fatal error was not a result of incompetence, but of anxiety. The intense vibration, G-forces, and time pressure of the test flight likely impaired Alsbury’s judgment, leading him to act prematurely.

This catastrophic failure, born from a feeling, raises a fundamental question that has puzzled philosophers and scientists for centuries: are our emotions a dangerous impediment to rational thought, or an essential part of it? In his book Emotional: The New Thinking About Feelings, physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow argues that a revolution in neuroscience has completely overturned our understanding. He reveals that emotions are not the enemy of reason, but its indispensable partner, a set of ancient, sophisticated tools that guide our decisions, motivations, and very perception of reality.

Narrator: For centuries, Western thought has championed the idea of a logical, rational mind locked in a constant battle with irrational, disruptive emotions. This view suggests that to make good decisions, one must suppress feelings and rely on cold, hard logic. Mlodinow dismantles this myth, showing that modern neuroscience reveals a far more integrated system. Emotions are not a bug in our mental software; they are a crucial feature.

Mlodinow illustrates this through the personal story of his parents, both Holocaust survivors. His father was stoic and logical, while his mother was emotionally volatile, prone to extreme reactions over minor incidents. For years, the author internalized the idea that his mother’s emotionality was a flaw. Yet, as science now shows, this view is a profound oversimplification. Emotions are essential for assigning value to information and goals. Without feelings, we would be unable to decide what matters. As neuroscientist Ralph Adolphs explains, an emotion is a "mode of mental operation" that adjusts our goals, directs our attention, and modifies the weights we assign to various factors in our mental calculations. Far from being a hindrance, emotion is a tool of rational thought, providing the framework that makes effective decision-making possible.

Narrator: The idea that emotions are a recent, uniquely human development is another misconception. Mlodinow demonstrates that the biological roots of emotion are ancient and shared across the animal kingdom. Even simple organisms use emotional states to navigate their environment and make life-or-death decisions.

Consider the honeybee. In one experiment, researchers induced an anxiety-like state in bees by shaking them vigorously for sixty seconds. Afterward, these agitated bees were presented with ambiguous odors that could signal either a sweet reward or an unpleasant liquid. Compared to a control group, the shaken bees were far more likely to interpret the ambiguous smells pessimistically, avoiding them as a potential threat. This "threat-justified shift in judgment" shows that even an insect's brain uses an emotional state—in this case, anxiety—to process information and guide behavior. This isn't a flaw; it's an evolutionary advantage. Anxious bees are more cautious, increasing their chances of survival in a dangerous world. From bees to birds to humans, emotions evolved as a flexible and powerful system for reacting to environmental challenges, far superior to rigid, reflexive behaviors.

Narrator: Our emotional life is not just a product of our thoughts; it is deeply intertwined with the physical state of our bodies. Mlodinow introduces the concept of "core affect," a continuous, background-level feeling that acts as an internal barometer, monitoring our physical well-being. Core affect operates on two dimensions: valence (ranging from pleasant to unpleasant) and arousal (ranging from calm to agitated). This constant stream of information from our body profoundly, and often unconsciously, influences our mood, thoughts, and decisions.

An elegant experiment with small songbirds called juncos illustrates this principle perfectly. Researchers gave the birds a choice between two food trays: one offered a fixed, guaranteed number of seeds, while the other was a gamble, offering either more seeds or none at all, but with the same average payout. When the birds were kept at a comfortable temperature, their core affect was positive, and they consistently chose the safe, guaranteed option. However, when the temperature was lowered, putting them in a state of physical stress, their core affect turned negative. In this state, they became risk-takers, consistently choosing the gamble in the hope of a bigger caloric payoff. Their physical state directly altered their decision-making strategy, demonstrating that our bodies are constantly "speaking" to our brains, shaping our choices in ways we rarely notice.

Narrator: For a long time, it was assumed that motivation was simple: we want the things that we like. However, Mlodinow highlights the groundbreaking work of neuroscientist Kent Berridge, which revealed that "wanting" and "liking" are two completely separate neural systems. The "wanting" system, driven by the neurotransmitter dopamine, is responsible for motivation and desire. The "liking" system, which involves opioids and endocannabinoids, is responsible for the sensation of pleasure.

Berridge’s experiments with rats were revelatory. When he blocked the dopamine in their brains, the rats no longer sought out food or water. They lost all motivation—all "wanting"—and would starve to death even when food was placed right in front of them. Yet, if sugar water was dripped into their mouths, they still showed facial expressions of pleasure. They still "liked" it, but they no longer "wanted" it. This discovery is the key to understanding addiction. Addictive drugs and behaviors, as well as the "supernormal stimuli" of modern processed foods, can hijack the dopamine-driven "wanting" system, creating intense cravings that are completely disconnected from any real pleasure. An addict may desperately "want" a drug while getting no "liking" from it at all, a cycle that drives compulsive and destructive behavior.

Narrator: Given the powerful influence of emotions, the ability to manage them is one of the most vital skills for a successful life. Mlodinow explains that this skill, often called emotional intelligence, is not an inborn trait but a set of strategies that can be learned and improved. He focuses on three of the most effective methods validated by modern psychology: acceptance, reappraisal, and expression.

Acceptance is powerfully illustrated by the story of James Stockdale, a U.S. naval commander who was held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for over seven years. Drawing on the principles of Stoic philosophy, Stockdale accepted the brutal reality of his situation, focusing only on what he could control—his own character and responses—rather than things he couldn't, like his release date. This mindset allowed him to endure unimaginable torture and lead his fellow prisoners.

Reappraisal involves changing the narrative we tell ourselves about a situation to alter its emotional impact. Expression, particularly "affect labeling," is the simple act of putting our feelings into words. Studies show that merely naming an emotion like anger or sadness activates the brain's prefrontal cortex, which in turn dampens the response in the amygdala, reducing the emotion's intensity. By understanding these tools, we can move from being controlled by our emotions to actively managing them.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Emotional is that our feelings are not a primitive vestige to be overcome, but a fundamental and sophisticated component of our intelligence. Emotions are the brain's way of constructing meaning, guiding our thoughts, and motivating our actions in a complex world. They are the language of our evolutionary inheritance, speaking to us through the integrated system of our mind and body.

The ultimate challenge presented by Mlodinow is not to achieve a state of pure, cold rationality, but to become fluent in the language of our own emotions. As the author's own poignant story of making an end-of-life decision for his mother during the pandemic reveals, even with all this knowledge, the process is never perfect. It requires constant work. But by understanding where our feelings come from and what they are trying to tell us, we can learn to harness their power, transforming our relationship with our inner world and, in doing so, enriching our lives.