Part 1: Basics of Emotional Interaction

A human being, by programmed nature, is capable of experiencing a variety of emotions, thoughts, and feelings towards others. One may ask "Are these things not all the same"? Indeed they are not.

Let us begin by examining how a typical person interacts with others on a daily basis. To begin with, if encountering a stranger who is NOT in the immediate path towards a desired destination there is little or no communication on any level. If however the stranger crosses paths with the person we are imagining then one of two things will have a 95% chance of happening; either the man will say "excuse me" to the stranger or the stranger will be the one to state that apology first.

Why is this? Why retain mannerisms for people we do not know? Nothing says that stranger hasn't wronged someone we know, nothing says the stranger isn't a well thinking person either. Is this the reason for mannerisms? Because the person "might" be a good person? Or is it the hope that such a person will respect us for being polite? I feel it cannot be any of these things and to believe so would make a person either completely secure or completely paranoid within their environment and I feel that neither is 100% possible for any human being.

What I do believe on this matter is that internally, there is a conflict between the physical and the emotional. When we are walking we are focusing on the physical aspects of our path but when another being crosses our path the emotional or mental (one of the two, perhaps a bit of both) intervenes to give us good sense towards this other being. This is not so much respect so much as it is responsibility on a humane level. We can have the most frustrating day of our lives but yet we still find time to apologize for intervening in the path of another and others do the same as well in return.

 There is thought, it involves thinking that all people, are possibly "good" or "bad" potentially. Thinking however also gets our attention when we need to enter a state of acknowledgement for another being; we may not readily enjoy their presence but we still accept that it must be acknowledged as it is in our immediate environment and thus possibly relevant to ourselves.

 Then we have Emotion. Emotion involves a curious "feel" for other things in our environment. This is what helps us judge whether or not a being should be treated a certain way based on external stimuli. If a person we do not know crosses our path, we feel neutral towards the person mentally but the respect we suddenly gain is a slight burst of "hopeful compassion" that is usually unnoticed as such. If this was not the case then we would probably disregard the person in our line of sight completely until we stumbled over there as if they were invisible.

 We also have feelings, feelings are the after result of the situations we face involving other beings. If a stranger apologizes for getting in our way and says "Excuse me" we usually say "You're ok, or oh its fine". Why is this? Is this just a typical response? It cannot be, the human is a being of natural compassion, so much that it is unnoticed. If a person apologizes to us for getting in our way, we feel torn and slightly upset with ourselves, perhaps embarassed for getting in the way of another even though the other clearly is apologizing for getting in our path. In turn we say "Its ok" as if we are trying to assure the person that what they are doing is not bothersome to us, just out of reflex.

 So then is this mental/emotional reflex natural? It must be for I see it almost everyday. "Excuse Me", "You're ok", "Pardon Me" "Oh don't worry", "Am I in your way?" "No don't worry, you can go ahead". See what I mean? These are not words of people that are paranoid or completely confident, these are words of beings that are carefully compassionate. Human beings respect one another so much that they cannot even see just how much they truly respect each other. Isn't that a fascinating revelation?

 Why else would such events occur daily? When people are forced into close proximity suddenly there is a need to respect thy neighbor even if both beings are complete opposites to one another. There is a need to respect in close proximity, I find this interesting given how divided people attempt to be on a daily basis. Perhaps the key to humanity understanding itself isn't to divide them individually.

Instead if human beings were put closer together towards something they all perceive as individual to themselves, and when the time comes there will be a great chorus of "Excuse me, sorry pardon me, am I in your way?" and in return there will be heard a gentle "Oh don't worry you're fine, you can go ahead first." That of course can only be followed by one more phrase that is universal, a soft spoken "Thank you".