Damasio (2021, p.88) goes on to offer another insightful comment regarding the unique role played by feelings:
Because the actual object of the feeling/perception is none other than a part of the organism itself, that object is in fact located within the subject/perceiver. Astonishing! Nothing comparable occurs with our external perceptions, for example, visual or auditory.
For the authoritarian this means that their feelings are fully in their control. Given that these men and women rarely have control over other parts of their life, the role played by their feelings takes on even great importance.
Feelings as Bridge from Being to Thinking II: In becoming aware of our feelings, we find a bridge to our awareness of being a thinking species (homo sapiens). As Damasio (2021, p. 97) observes, feelings enable us to make important thinking-based assessments that inform our subsequent actions:
Arising as they do in the interior of our adjustable and dynamic organisms, feelings are both qualitative and quantitative. They exhibit valence—the quality rankings that make their warning and advice be worth the effort and also motivate our actions as needed.
Most importantly, feelings provide a signal function—letting us know that we must be alert to something happening inside or outside ourself (be it threatening or benevolent). Damasio (2021, p. 95) puts it this way:
. . . [F]eelings operate as altering sentinels. They inform each mind—fortunate enough to be so equipped—of the state of life within the organism to which that mind belongs. Moreover, feelings give that mind an incentive to act according to the positive or negative signal of their messages.
Feelings enable us to go even further in our assessments. We can make thinking-based judgements about relative amounts of something in our environment (Damasio, 2021, p. 53):
The information provided by feelings points to “qualities” of things or states – good or not so good- as well as “quantities” of those quality: really awful versus not so bad.
In these observations made by Damasio, we find even more important (and disturbing) implications regarding the role played by feelings in the lives of those with an authoritarian personality. Their alienation-based feelings are likely to be “trigger-happy” with regard to slights from those who are among the “elites” as well as perceived threats from those who are “not like us.”
There are powerful valences associated with the fear, anger, hate and envy of the authoritarian. Everything is elevated—and a VUCA-Plus world doesn’t help. The profound and pervasive anxiety associated with VUCA-Plus serves as an accelerator of the authoritarian’s valances.
