Virtual Emotional Learning

Note: Don’t miss the Instagram video at the end of the post. If you are in a hurry start there (click here).

A fascinating conversation (summarized below) led to asking whether children afflicted with facial paralysis, therefore lacking the somatic experience of facial affect display, would have unique emotional learning differences.

Here is G-Ai’s (Google’s Gemini Ai’s) brief summary of our conversation:

We began by exploring the relationship between blindness and spoken language learning, establishing that blindness doesn’t hinder language acquisition. Then, we delved into childhood disorders causing facial paralysis, focusing on Moebius syndrome and its impact on language development. We noted that the absence of facial feedback can challenge articulation and speech development, but receptive language skills remain largely unaffected.

Next, we examined the connection between Moebius syndrome and emotional expression. We established that while facial paralysis hinders outward emotional display, it doesn’t diminish the internal experience or understanding of emotions. This observation led us to question the primacy of facial expressions in emotional learning, as proposed by Silvan Tomkins.

We then contrasted the role of somatic feedback in speech and emotional development. We recognized that while facial feedback is crucial for speech acquisition, emotional learning can occur through alternative pathways, even in its absence. This challenged Tomkins’ theory and highlighted the adaptability of human emotional development.

Finally, we explored those alternative pathways, including proprioceptive feedback, verbal cues, internal emotional states, mirror neurons, and explicit instruction. This shift towards a less somatic and more virtualized understanding of emotional learning underscores the complexity and resilience of human emotional development, opening new avenues for therapeutic interventions and a broader appreciation of the interplay between physical and cognitive processes in shaping our emotional lives.

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Continuing…

DB: Does the difference between the sources of feedback for emotional learning (from the somatic feedback of facial expressions to the less somatic and more mental inner self-reference feedback (as with the emotional learning of children with Moebius) point to the virtual (mental) dimensions being primary in all cases and just supported and reinforced by the somatic?

G-Ai: Yes, the lessons gleaned from the emotional development of children with Moebius syndrome do indeed lend support to the idea that virtual dimensions may be primary in all cases of emotional learning, with somatic experiences serving a supportive and reinforcing role.

Key Points:

• Moebius Syndrome as a Natural Experiment: The experience of children with Moebius syndrome offers a unique insight into emotional development in the absence of typical facial feedback. Their ability to learn and express emotions despite this limitation suggests that emotional processes are not solely dependent on somatic cues.
• Virtualization as the Foundation: This observation implies that a more virtualized, internal representation of emotions might be the foundation upon which emotional learning is built. This includes cognitive processes like appraisal and interpretation, internal bodily sensations, and social understanding gleaned from verbal and nonverbal cues.
• Somatic Feedback as Reinforcement: While facial expressions and other somatic experiences can undoubtedly enhance and reinforce emotional learning, they may not be the essential building blocks. In the absence of typical facial feedback, individuals can still develop rich emotional lives by relying on these more virtualized processes.
• Implications for Typical Development: If this perspective holds true, it suggests that even in typical development, the virtual dimensions of emotional learning (cognitive appraisal, social understanding, internal bodily sensations) may play a more foundational role than previously recognized. Somatic feedback, particularly facial expressions, might serve to amplify, reinforce, and fine-tune these internal processes.

In essence:

The case of Moebius syndrome highlights the potential primacy of virtual dimensions in emotional learning. It suggests that emotions are not just embodied in our faces but also constructed within our minds and social interactions. While somatic feedback remains important, it may be secondary to the more internalized, virtualized processes that shape our emotional experiences.

DB: So the Moebius Syndrome reveals the trans-somatic plasticity of emotional learning – the virtuality of emotional learning.

G-Ai: Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that Moebius syndrome reveals the trans-somatic plasticity of emotional learning and highlights the virtuality of emotional learning.

Let me elaborate:

• Trans-somatic Plasticity: This term beautifully encapsulates the idea that emotional learning isn’t confined to or solely dependent on somatic (bodily) experiences, particularly facial expressions. The experience of individuals with Moebius syndrome demonstrates the brain’s remarkable ability to transcend the limitations of somatic feedback and find alternative pathways for emotional development.
• Virtuality of Emotional Learning: The ability to learn and experience emotions even in the absence of typical facial expressions underscores the inherent virtuality of emotional processes. This suggests that emotions are not merely hardwired into our physical bodies, but also emerge from a dynamic interplay of cognitive processes, social interactions, and internal representations.
• Implications Beyond Moebius Syndrome: This understanding has profound implications not just for individuals with Moebius syndrome but for our understanding of emotional learning in general. It suggests that even in typical development, the virtual dimensions of emotions – cognitive appraisal, social understanding, internal bodily sensations – may play a more foundational role than previously acknowledged. Somatic feedback, particularly facial expressions, might serve to amplify, reinforce, and fine-tune these internal processes, rather than being the sole source of emotional learning.

In conclusion, Moebius syndrome serves as a powerful reminder that emotional learning is a dynamic and adaptive process. It highlights the brain’s remarkable plasticity and its ability to create meaning and understanding even in the face of significant challenges. The virtuality of emotional learning, as revealed by Moebius syndrome, opens up new avenues for exploring the complexities of human emotions and developing innovative approaches to emotional education and well-being.

https://g.co/gemini/share/1303c765be24

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The above conversation was in support of a comment on a Facebook video about babies learning to produce the sounds that will become their language. I think babies are amazing so at first I responded:

Babies are truly our greatest hope. Not just in the obvious sense that they (meek as they seem to be) will inherit the earth, but in that they exemplify the AWESOME power of human learning. For those interested in how babies learn, I recommend you to Alison Gopnick’s books “The Scientist in the Crib” and “The Philosophical Baby”.

The more we recognize the off-scale, life-fating, power of children’s potential for learning the more it becomes clear that the mess we’ve made of our world has far less to do with “innate human nature” and far more to do with how human children can’t help but learn to become who they become in an adult world oblivious to and irresponsible for the depths of their learning.

Among so many other things, babies are proof of our need to make stewarding the healthiness of our children’s learning the central intent of parenting and educating. Everything within their agency depends on their learning. Extending their agency depends on their learning.

See also: Nothing is More Crucial Than Stewarding the Health of Our Children’s Learning: https://tinyurl.com/2dl6dt99 Helping children learn that they are always learning to become themselves: https://tinyurl.com/2bmqpwe2

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Finally just before posting this my daughter shared this Instagram video with me. Talk about how children can’t help but learn in environments they don’t choose to learn in…

 

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A post shared by culo (@ehculo)

PS –  Friend Kevin Manley (@slimpgimpstr) sent the following: How the Experience of Emotion is Modulated by Facial Feedback (Gemini summary: Overall, the findings presented in the article support the idea that emotional learning is a multifaceted process that involves both somatic and virtual components. While facial expressions can provide valuable feedback and contribute to emotional regulation, they are not the sole drivers of emotional experience. The virtual, cognitive aspects of emotional learning, such as internal representations and social interactions, also play a significant role in shaping our emotional lives.)