A couple walking trough a small forest has emotions

A couple is walking through a small forest. The man has noticed a signboard warning tourists that rabies has recently been recorded in this forest. The woman, however, had not noticed the board and knows nothing of the dangerous diesease. This difference in knowledge is reflected by different patterns of thought. The man will most probably continously scan his sense data for clues indicative of danger. Many harmless noises he will interpret as the footfall of a diseased wolf and one or the other barren tree will be interpreted as a skeleton. The woman, on the contrary, is reminded of cosy winter evenings at the fire-place by fur trees. She associates birds singing with angels and cracking noises with friendly deer.

These two opposing modes of thought are the result of an effective ressource management system in the brain. The mans brain is informed that a certain danger might arise at any moment. It focusses all available neural activity to interpret ingoing sense data in a way as to quickly identify the danger. Moreover, it probably also constantly plays through possible reactions to have them at hand if needed. The man is quite likely to figure out a way of escape most of the time. But not only neural activity is tuned to a specific need by emotions. Via hormones they also influence bodily states. In the above example, the man is probably fit for bodily action, with enough glucose in his blood stream and his digestive actions reduced to a minimum.

Emotions are useful, they...

• act as long term dispositions to interpret ingoing sense data with a certain bias (physical danger, possible partners for a flirt, jealousy),

• tune the brain to constantly prepare solutions for a certain set of problems (fighting, hiding, flirting, arguing),

• tune the body to be prepared or act with a certain bias (i. e. physical action, repose, thinking)

Without emotions brain and body would disperse ressources in uncoordinated activity not answering the demands of the present situation.

In an economic company, too, there is a need for concerted activity. Imagine the following thinkable "company emotions":

• "Aggressive growth": the marketing department looks for new markets, it has a close view on competitors, debtors are treated with much lenience, lobbyism is direced towards institutions and politicians of potentially new markets, the recruiting department stages large scale campaigns for new staff, dialogue with unions is generous and broadminded, research and development receives much money and attention...

• "Stagnation and fear of bankruptcy": the marketing department tries to hold on to existing markets, no attention is wasted on the activity of competitors, debtors are pressed to pay as soon as possible, lobbyism is directed towards protectionist politicians with an interest in defending local jobs, the recruiting department is concerned with not publicly recruiting new staff while secretely still looking for new managers, dialogue with unions gains in sharpness as a guarantee of jobs cannot be given any more and wages will have to be lowered, research and development is reduced to a minimum.

A company emotional system would basically consist of two modules:

1. Situation recognition: answering to the question of which emotion best suits the present situation,

2. Emotion realization: anwering to the need of tuning and influencing company activity to the presently active emotion.