Are Emotions 'Involuntary Reactions' ?

[sakoz]

Your answer is extremely important to you. Do you 'decide/chose' to experience emotions? Any of the whole range, from annoyance, frustration, fear, anger, anxiety, panic attack, PTSD.
So we agree at the outset that emotions are involuntary reactions. Next we need to be clear on what we mean by the words "involuntary" and "reactions". The dictionary definitions will suffice.
The RE of reaction means "again" or "repeat". 'Reaction' requires a "initiatory" stimulus or  cue.
"Conditioning"; we all know of 'Pavlovian  Conditioning'. When dogs are fed, they involuntarily salivate at the sight of food, even before the first bite. If your opening a can of dog food and your dog is watching, it will salivate, some dogs even to the point of drolling, before you place the food on the floor. Pavlov'associated' or 'conditioned' the involuntary salivation to the sound of a bell, to the point that the dogs would salivate at the bell sound in the absence of food. The sound alone was the cue.  (a deception perpetrated by Pavlov).
We are conditioned to and by language. Language involves images; BELIEVED images function as "empirical" perceptions.( All creatures are involuntarily responsive to perceptions). We do with BELIEVED images what Pavlov did with the sound of a bell. Our believed images are the CUES that arouse/provoke our involuntary to emote, whether 'facts' are present or absent.
This 'process' is not yet recognized by the majority, it's not yet "mainstream". So advertizers, politicians 'capitalize' on that ignorance(lack of knowing, not derogatory). But the worst DECEPTION is when we do it to ourselves 'unknowingly'. Not recognizing the cues we use to 'trigger' our involuntary to emote. It's still 'self-inflcted' even if  not recognized we are doing it.
My intent is not to teach, but to have you expand your awareness to include what you been doing subliminally/covertly. Pavlovs dogs did not have the ability to recognize that the sound of the bell was NOT food; but we all have the ability to recognize that our "believed images are not real', our images are no substitute for facts, there only PROXIES.
We can use John Boehner and Barack Obama as "before and after" examples. John, while  talking will 'trigger' a cue word and his involuntary reacts with emotion(tears). Barack is a fine example of someone who recognizes his images are not real, so you won't 'catch' him emoting in public, like you see John do, etc.

[SWM]

who are you talking to?

I imagine you imagining an audience of disturbed people unable to recognise that there thoughts are just thoughts and in deperate need of rescuingf from their own minds.

but these is just my thoughts entertaining me.

[SWM]

are your actions taking you towards your desired destination?

rather than just reapeat the same thing across multipile threads and turn the forum into a homage to fearful imaginings could you not work on how you deliver this to people who might benefit or want to hear it.

[SWM]

what i mean is, there are people that come to this forum with problems relating to "believing some of their images are real"

they might get the picture if you could deliver it in a way they understand. there is someone here today with a phobia that is classic example of what you are talking about but you will need to work out how to get that person to understand your concepts.