Thread by @AkivaMCohen

Please do not pile onto Michael, who is lovely. But this raises a point that I think deserves wider discussion: the idea that anger, hatred, jealousy, and the other so-called "darker" emotions are inherently bad ... is wrong. They aren't. They're just more likely to be used wrong

https://twitter.com/KliegmanMichael/status/1349695192438366208

Anger can be righteous, and productive. It can spur us to action, to fight against injustice, to self-sacrifice in the name of a good cause. The problem isn't anger per se, it's inappropriate anger, misdirected anger, uncontrolled anger

Hatred isn't necessarily wrong. You *should* hate Hitler, for example - have a bone deep revulsion for and visceral rejection of people who would murder innocents for personal gain, incite race wars, etc. Your internal response to that *should* be emotional, not just logical

Jealousy can be a very productive emotion. I can look at @popelizbet and @greg_doucette raising scads of money for charity, doing good in the world, and say "wow, I wish I could accomplish what they can". It can push you (me) to be a better person

By the same token, "good" emotions like love, loyalty, devotion ... those can be extremely dangerous and destructive. We're witnessing it in our politics now, in fact

The reason we consider things like anger, jealousy, and hatred to be "bad" is because they are often misdirected (like racial hatred) and because as strong emotions they can overwhelm reason and lead us into bad choices

The reason we think of things like "love" and "joy" as "good" emotions isn't just because they feel good, it's because they are most often associated with doing good. But misdirected love and joy can be just as dangerous, and just as much a source of bad choices, as anger or hate

Bottom line - very few things in life, especially emotional life, are inherently good or inherently bad. It's all about the use we put them to and whether we allow them to overwhelm our reason.

Thanks for coming to my (Maimonidean) TedTalk