Friday, January 26, 2007

The most important emotion of a human being

In one of my b-school interviews, the interviewer asked me: "What do you think is the most important emotion of a human being?"

I answered, "Crying."

"Why?" The obvious reply came. It seemed to me that the answer sounded interesting to him.

I justified:

"A person cries when he is at the peak of his emotions.

When we are extremely happy, we cry. Because we cry, the joyous moment becomes more ecstatic and memorable.

When we are terribly sad, we cry. Because we cry, we get our hidden emotions out and gain a lot of self-motivation to overcome our sadness. Crying cleanses our hearts. Crying cleanses our minds.

To conclude, when we cry, we come close to the real person inside us. We understand our true self. Therefore, I think crying is the most important emotion of a person."

He questioned again, “Why not laughter?”

I answered, “Laughter captures only one end of the spectrum, i.e., only our happy mood. It does not capture the other end of the spectrum.”

He seemed impressed. As the answer was a very spontaneous one, as opposed to many typically prepared answers that I give in interviews, the answer has been stuck in my mind.

Guys, I put the same question to all of you. What do you think is the most important emotion of a human being and why?

13 comments:

Mathan said...

I think your answer is beautiful. I like it a lot!~ Your question however is more beautiful...

The spontaneous answer in my head is "regret". We are not perfect. Each one of us is different. Unique. It makes us approach every single aspect in our life differently.

To us, our way is the right way. But, "one man's food is another man's poison". As such, we're sure to meet someone that cannot approach a subject the way we do. Instead, our way would actually hurt them.

Without regret, we'd continuously follow the same paths in life. Never learning. Without regret we'd continuously hurt everyone. Especially, the ones we love. Without regret, there won't be need for decency and diplomacy. Breaking down society.

Life would be pretty bad even if only 1% of the world's population of 6 billion people had no regrets...

Chandan Panda said...

What an intellectual lot! I must say..

My answer would be RESPECT.

I think the most powerful emotion is the one you feel, when you change somebody's life in significant ways, especially if you have no vested interest in it.

Though I cannot boast of having done something like that, but I cannot help feeling overwhelmed when I read about ppl like Dr Yunus (Nobel prize for microfinance) or Vikram Akula (guy who is pushing microfinance)..

When I see in TV, people treating them like God, I cannot help but envy them. They were ordinary ppl like us. But they made the right decisions in life. And look what an impact they have made. The people whom they have rescued from extreme poverty have every reason to treat them like God.

And their respect is genuine. And one cannot imagine the magnitude. It is the purest form of emotion. And I think it is a rarity to find people who have earned this form of respect..

Deba said...

Huh! Mathan and Chandan, I love your thoughts too. Keep them coming.

Unknown said...

I can vouch for LOVE.

Love for things,for people,for money, for fame, for adulation.Anything.
It defines our outlook.
its the driving force behind anything we do.. we feel it at the deepest level and we cant conrol it at times.

It makes us laugh, it can make us cry, if you look at it it also makes us respect..

Its more inclusive and basic to other emotions we get..

Sudhanshu said...

I think that the most important emotion is "lust". If we did not have lust for money, better career, material gains, personal gains and social comforts - we would not have been any different from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Only lust makes us sit back and analyze, plan and implement our future strategies! This is one differentiating feature...animals do things out of instinct, whereas we do most beautiful things out of lust (including all procreational activities).

Wonder if others would agree...

Unknown said...

Hey Prakriti

That is the first thing that came to my mind when I read Chandan's Question. 'LOVE'. Yes I would also say 'LOVE' is the most important emotion. I will come to the why part of it soon.

Before that, Mathan I like the way you write though don't share your opinion on the most important emotion:)

Sudhanshu... a really positive approach to something like 'LUST':)

Chandan I like your answers (both crying & Respect) but agree with Prakriti more.

And Deba are you not from REC Rourkela, Batch of 2002?? I might be getting confused, but from your photgraph I feel so you are!

Okay coming back to my reasons for why 'Love' the strongest of them all...

because it teaches us to believe. Yes, believe in Miracles, Believe in yourself, Believe in life and above all believe in Hope. Thus it becomes the motivating factor for living life and look forward to new dawns even in the darkest of the nights.

Any comments?

Deba said...

Yea, Sampa. I am from REC Rourkela 2002 batch. Are you Sampa Pal from the Electrical Engg?

Unknown said...

Love is the first thing that comes to my mind too when i read Debas question....
Reason is because it is such a 'versatile' force. Think abt it. When you truely love something/someone -
(1)it is what makes you want to live everyday but you are willing to die for it anytime
(2)the thing/person you love becomes your greatest strength and your greatest weakness
(3)you have the courage to fight with the world for it but still have the fear of losing it....

SS said...

I feel one of the most important emotions of man is HOPE. Hope is what keeps us going in the good times and bad. Sometimes the mind tells you that there's no chance but there's still the hope in your heart that eggs you on..
Hope is what helps convert the impossible to possible.
Hope is the stubborn belief that does not let us settle.
Hope is what allows us to dream of that rosy future.
And hope is what keeps us going even when things aren't going great around us.
BTW I loved ppl's thoughts on crying, regret and love too..

Unknown said...

Both the question and the answer are so different and so lovely! I totally loved the way you put your thoughts into words in that one Deba.

If I were to speak of what comes to my mind, it would be happiness because the dimensions on which a person measures happiness are different to different people. However, the simplest of things such as looking at a child play can bring a smile to your face. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is important to be 'happy' in every situation and to find 'happiness' in everything.

Deba said...

If I consolidate all the answers that we all have given, the answers are:

- Crying
- Regret
- Respect
- Love
- Lust
- Hope
- Happiness

Any more in the offing?

Harish bka Harry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Harish bka Harry said...

The striking word that comes to my mind to this question is Passion!! Or you can say Liking towards something.

We all do things in life which we are passionate about. Everyone has their own passions It can be anything from Music, Reading, Writing, Singing, Dancing... to Friendship/Friends, Love, Care...

It's our Passion that walks with us through our life and takes us to our destiny. It sits there right in the core of your heart and guides you always...

You feel some sense of completeness of yourself, when you do something you are really passionate about. Just imagine the feeling when you achieve something that is your core passion??

This is the first time I am ever writing myself out…..I would appreciate any comments.

Thanks!!