I think that what you're saying is very true, even though I don't agree enterily on it. I do believe that people
are, indeed, addicted to their emotions, however I don't think that they're not controlled.
Just like you said with the nicotine. The fact that we have such receptors doesn't mean that we will become addicted to it. We can become or we can't become addicted to our emotions. Such as do the military men. They don't let themselves be ruled by emotion, so it is only natural to assume that you can prevent such a thing.
Now, to your question:
Quote:
| Does this imply that in reality we create the circumstances around which our addictive emotions can rationally surface? |
I believe that it depends. Your emotions can be manipulated by other people or by yourself. For example, you think your girlfriend is cheating on you, you make yourself angry because of it, because you
think she is cheating on you. That would be an internal struggle.
But what if your girlfriend tried to make you jealous on purpose? Then the must common reaction would be that you get angry, because
she was the one to provoke that feeling on purpose. But just like that, you could not get angry.
So I'd say that according to you how much you let yourself be affect by them is how addicted, or not addicted you are to them. Having emotions is truly natural, is a mechanism that let us survive on many occasions, but we are supposedly rational beings, so we can most likely control to a certain degree that capacity.