What is EA?

Emotional Architecture (EA) is based on the “Theory of Constructed Emotions” (TCE) and the work of Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett, one of the top 0.1% most cited scientists in the world for her research in psychology and neuroscience. 

TCE’s story began in 2013 when cognitive scientist Anil Seth described how emotions are “generated” by “predictive models” in our brains. In 2016, Lisa Feldman Barrett published her “Theory of Constructed Emotions.” In 2017, she published, How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, a book reviewed as “brilliant... and the deepest thinker on this topic since Darwin,” and “the definitive field guide to feelings.” 

To understand the ideas behind TCE, we begin with what TCE maintains that emotions are not:

  • Emotions are not triggered or created in response to outside events. 

  • Emotions are not feelings that need to be tamed by our intelligence.

TCE notes how the 1960s neuroscience behind the idea of “Emotional Intelligence” - the triune brain theory - is, as Barrett notes in Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, “one of the most successful and widespread errors in all of science.” 

How can TCE help build healthy emotions? EAC offers this overview:

1. Our Brains are Predictors 

Neuroscience reveals our brains are constantly predicting what will happen next to help us navigate our world. These predictions have been described as our brains forming a “best guess,” a “hypothesis,” or a “simulation” of how events might unfold.

When we feel thirsty, for example, and drink water, we feel better. But it takes over twenty minutes for water to reach our bloodstream. Our brain predicts how our body will feel in the future and applies the feelings to the present moment.

In his book Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Things, Leonard Mlodinow adds that evidence our brains are constantly predicting are moments when we feel surprised. Mlodinow writes, “Surprise is evoked when you encounter an event that doesn’t match your brain’s prediction.” 

2. Our Brains Construct Emotions 

In the process of predicting, our brains also construct emotions. These emotional predictions are constructed from 1) our memories, 2) predictive models in our brains, and 3) our cultural history and context.

David Ingvar describes how our brains utilize memories by building a “memory of the future.” We use and apply memories of past experiences to anticipate how we will feel in the future.  

Along with memories, our brain draws from what Anil Seth calls “models.” ”Happy,” for example, is a model our brains might apply when a loved one arrives home from work. “Anxious” is a model we might apply when entering a room of strangers. These emotional models, or “concepts” as Barrett describes them, can also change: we can redesign, delete, and even build new emotional models and concepts.

Third, our cultural upbringing and current cultural context impact the construction of emotions. As Batja Mesquita describes in Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions, emotions are tied “to the sociocultural contexts in which we participate.”

To summarize, as Harvard psychologist and best-selling author Daniel Gilbert notes, “Emotional prediction is the process by which we discover what we already know.” 

3. Brain Predictions and Constructed Emotions Can Change 

After attempting to predict what will happen next and constructing our emotions, our brains adjust these predictions and emotions after input from our senses and then apply this new data to both present and future predictions. A baseball hitter, for example, might predict a pitcher would throw a certain pitch, but after a few opportunities at bat would adjust these predictions. 

However, the ability to adjust predictions and construct emotions can go awry. Cognitive philosopher Andy Clark notes, “We can choose to discount or ignore new data from our senses and experiences.” When our brain does not adjust or update predictions it is called, “cognitive immunization.” If we do not update negative predictions or emotions after we experience positive situations or outcomes, we are “immunizing” ourselves from this new, helpful data. This is a significant issue for those experiencing mental health challenges. 

4. To Architect Our Emotions 

With an awareness that our brains are predicting what will happen next and constructing emotions, we now possess the extraordinary potential, as Barrett observes, to become the “architects of our own experience” and to “predict differently tomorrow.” Andy Clark calls this the ability to “hack our own predictive minds.” This is the core concept behind Emotional Architecture.