The Mechanics of Sentiment

Mark Haddon has the autistic narrator of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time meditate on the nature of computers and feelings.

Also people think they're not computers because they have feelings and computers don't have feelings. But feelings are just having a picture on the screen in your head of what is going to happen tomorrow or next year, or what might have happened instead of what did happen, and if it is a happy picture they smile and if it is a sad picture they cry.
Of course one is reminded of Wittgenstein and picture theory. What is interesting here is the need for temporal shift in order to produce emotion. There is as the French say a "décalage" necessary to the expression of emotion. Here Christopher, our narrator, introduces the process by picturing the future, followed by picturing of what might have been, followed by the experiencing of sad or happy pictures. Projection, counter-factual, emotion. All accomplished by a screen in the head.

And so for day 1090
07.12.2009