#78
12th Jun 2021 at 12:10 AM
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The way I think about understanding the code, Andrew, is that it's much like understanding the basics of human physiology. Sure, you can manage without knowing about how sugar, seratonin, lactic acid, atmospheric pressure, dietary fiber, etc., act with the body's systems - but it sure makes it easier to make good choices when you do!
Human emotions depend on brain chemistry; that's just a fact. Sim emotions depend on coding; also a fact. A lot of people recoil from that, as if having a definite physical manifestation somehow cheapens or lessens the reality of emotions, but I'm here to tell you - it doesn't. What it does do, is give you a basis for distinguishing between what I think of as "real" emotions (which have their roots in exterior reality) and "unreal" ones (which only exist as brain chemistry). The love I feel for my husband is real in this sense. My husband exists outside me and has reciprocal brain chemistry going on. Love manifests in the real world in a number of different ways, and motivates both of us to behave in mutually beneficial ways and be better together than we would be apart, even when one of us screws up. My depression, on the other hand, is in this sense unreal. It's just my stupid brain chemistry telling me that nobody loves me or ever could, that nothing I do matters, that I'm useless if I can't do XYZ thing, that nothing will ever get better and there's no reason for me to be alive. Well, that's all BS and can be addressed by adjustments to my brain chemistry. I haven't experimented much with pharmaceuticals, but I can normally manage the feeling by first recognizing it as a straightforward chemical problem and then hunting up ways to get my chemicals into a better state. I can even sic my good brain chemistry on my bad brain chemistry, because no matter how thoroughly the depression seems to have taken over my brain, it can't change how much I love my husband, and just crossing the hall to see him and tell him I feel lousy can alter the lousy very slightly for the better. A similar interrogation of circumstances can be used to address an array of emotions that, if left uninterrogated, can greatly complicate a life. Is there really something to be angry about, in which case I should investigate taking action; or do I need to eat something and retreat to a comfortable location and do something soothing? Do I actually want to do this thing, or is it just a pleasant fantasy better addressed by reading a book or playing a game? Is this person yelling at me because I have done something wrong or because I happen to be in front of them when the stress toxins in their blood reached critical mass? Asking these sorts of questions makes it much easier to make constructive decisions about what actions to take to deal with whatever's going on.
Just so for sims. Is that a real want to flirt outside the marriage, or is it just a random impulse? Does that teen want to hurt people or are they in aspiration failure? What needs have to be met in order to enable this child to keep their grades enough to keep the social worker away and still have a worthwhile childhood? And, yes, what qualities are most favorable for giving this sim the kind of romantic relationship (if any) that will make them happy?
Chemistry is certainly not the be-all and end-all of life partnership, in sims or in real life. You can introduce a sim to any number of triple bolters and find them gravitating inexorably toward a single-bolter whom they want above all others. But when you understand the nuts and bolts, it's a lot easier to see the dynamics at work, and understand what's actually happening.
At least, I find it so.
Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
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Widespot,
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Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)