Frequently asked questions about thinking, epistemology, and cognitive tools. 6402 answers
Emotional contagion means you absorb emotions from people around you.
You can understand others emotions without taking them on as your own.
Some people habitually absorb others emotions — recognize if this is you.
The skill of distinguishing your emotions from emotions you picked up from others.
Is this my emotion or did I absorb it from someone else — ask regularly.
The closer you are to someone physically the more you absorb their emotional state.
Social media and messaging transmit emotions across distance.
Teams and organizations have collective emotional tones that affect individuals.
Deliberate practices for maintaining your own emotional state in challenging environments.
You can feel compassion for someone without letting their pain destabilize you.
After spending time with emotionally intense people take time to reset to your own baseline.
When you feel responsible for others emotions your boundaries need strengthening.
Communicating what emotional labor you can and cannot provide.
Recognizing when someone is dumping their emotions on you without consent.
A mental practice of acknowledging others emotions without absorbing them.
News and entertainment are designed to provoke emotions — consume deliberately.
Setting limits on how long you will process a difficult emotion before moving on.
Specific techniques for returning to your own emotional baseline after disruption.
Setting emotional boundaries can be done warmly and caringly.
When you are not overwhelmed by others emotions you can be more genuinely helpful.
Your emotional responses to similar situations are more predictable than you think.
Specific triggers produce specific emotional responses with high consistency.
One emotion can trigger another creating a predictable cascade.
Your emotional state follows daily weekly and seasonal rhythms.