Perhaps a question that deserves to be addressed, is how emotion can be separated from any task that we're motivated to complete. I suppose you could say that we're not always driven by fierce, lively passions - but I think it's true that any sort of incentive is going to be established on at least some degree of emotion. A lack of emotion simply leads to a lack of conviction and resolve, which might culminate in apathy. Personally, I find it difficult to see something through until the end, unless I have a firm desire to complete it. Usually, this desire has to be sustained by some kind of emotion. There are many things that I could potentially be interested in, but in order to become perpetually attracted to particular things instead of others, I need to be able to attach some sort of emotional incentive to them. This is particularly true for my education. It's difficult to receive enthusiasm from the abstract concepts of 'money' and 'job' when you enjoy the contentment provided by a middle-class background. I have to be willing to learn things that I find to be truly nourishing; otherwise, I'll never be consistently induced to study. On the other hand, it'd be a falsehood to boast that I'm one of those rare few who experience an almost religious dedication to knowledge and achievement; periods of laziness are just unavoidable. So I guess you could say that I'm balanced. I undertake things, but always with a steady, perhaps slightly subdued, amount of emotion. Otherwise, I'm bored and disengaged.
I think being contentment is another large aspect of life that requires careful balance. I am certainly happy with the life I live right now, but I realize I have quite a future ahead of me. It can be all about finding what to strive for while still being grateful. In fact just a few days ago on Christmas I was dealing with this. I have a loving family, but at times I still can be prone to lonesomeness. It can be hard to discuss this with the people who love you most with out sounding ungrateful, and I really am. I need to accept what I have is great, but I still need to continue forward on finding a companion, I can't give up.
So do you consider apathy to include lack of concern for emotion, or lack of emotion in general?A lack of emotion simply leads to a lack of conviction and resolve, which might culminate in apathy.
I think apathy would be a lack of emotion in general. People without a conscious concern for their emotions, still experience emotions.
Do they though? Is not the experience of an emotion the realization (or concern) of that emotion?
I don't think so. We're constantly receiving sensations towards which we are inattentive. This is particularly true for emotions. People don't always recognise their own feelings and inducements; very often, the thoughts and ideas that are conspicuous within our minds, are pervaded by a sort of undercurrent of feelings of which we are scarcely aware. You could imagine it like being in the presence of conversation that you aren't appropriately listening to. You're probably perceptive of same vague feeling that corresponds to sound, but besides that, you can't determine what the speakers are discussing. You're experiencing something that you're ignorant of. So, no, experience is far removed from concern.
This is very interesting, I don't know that I've ever thought of emotion in this way. I suppose I've always just thought that the emotions I'm fully aware of experiencing at a specific moment are the only ones I'm feeling at that moment. But what you're saying is that like on a smart phone, there are "background emotions," if you will, that run even without us being fully aware of them. This definitely explains why a person could feel anxious, and have not a single clue as to why.