2 66 BIOLOGY AND HUMAN LIFE 



impulses to action are modified so that emotions become asso- 

 ciated with certain actions and so keep us from doing what we 

 otherwise feel impelled to do; for example, fear, shame, and 

 the desire to please certain people will prevent us from doing 

 things that we learn to regard as wrong or improper. Our emo- 

 tions may be aroused by a great variety of stimuli, and they 

 may in turn bring about a great variety of changes in the body. 

 Anger, for example, may be aroused by an unfriendly act, or by 

 striking an obstruction, or by seeing a bully abuse a child, or by 

 thinking about the abuse of power by high officials. This feel- 

 ing of anger may, in turn, bring about various changes in the 

 expression of your face and the doubling of your fists (skeletal, 

 or striped, muscles) ; it may cause a sudden flow of blood to the 

 head and increased heartbeat (involuntary muscles) ; it may 

 stop the flow of gastric juice and bring about other changes in 

 various organs. 



The manner in which we allow various happenings to stir up 

 our feelings, and the manner in which we allow our feelings to 

 find their way out in action, both depend largely upon habits. 

 These feeling habits, then, are our attitudes. 



221. Useful attitudes to cultivate. Since the emotions are so 

 important in controlling organic processes, it is important for 

 us to know how we can control our emotions. We cannot move 

 the unstriped muscles or cause the thyroid to secrete at will. 

 The only parts of the body that we can control voluntarily are 

 the cortex of the brain (our thoughts) and the striped muscles 

 that move our bones and skin. It is therefore through our 

 thoughts and our actions that we may try to control our feelings 

 and to establish feeling habits. If a child learns early in life to 

 "grin and bear it," he will be able later to stand pain and to 

 avoid crying whenever he may be hurt. If you learn to "count 

 ten" when you are provoked, to put your hands in your pockets 

 when they feel like striking, to press your lips together tight 

 when certain unkind words are trying to burst out, you may find 

 that after a while anger does not make you do what you do not 

 wish to do. There is some truth in the statement that we are 



