November 7, 2016

November 7, 2016

Written by Maximus Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Engineer

Dear Reader,

This is my first response to “The basic emotional circuits of mammalian brains: Do animals have affective lives?” (another paper) by Jaak Panksepp (2011). The answer is, of course, unequivocally: YES! The purpose of this writing is to demonstrate that Panksepp’s research on primary emotions maps  onto the two general ways of talking, which can be heard in humans: Sound Verbal Behavior (SVB) and Noxious Verbal Behavior (NVB).

Simply stated, in SVB we express positive emotions, but in NVB we express negative emotions. “The primal affects are intrinsic brain value systems that unconditionally and automatically inform animals how they are faring in survival.” Our voice indicates how we are faring with our survival. When we talk, our sound communicates if we are safe or not.

Panksepp’s “brain value systems” produce two different kinds of sounds which “serve an essential function in emotional learning. The positive affects index “comfort zones” that support survival, while negative affects inform animals of circumstances that may impair survival.” It can’t be stated more clearly than that. Read it three times please!

Knowing the difference between SVB and NVB will make us realize that our way of talking either supports or impairs our survival. Mankind’s survival is threatened by how we talk with each other. Our sense of community is lost as we engage mostly in NVB and less and less in SVB.

We fail to acknowledge that NVB stimulates and maintains our negative affect and that only SVB can stimulate and maintain our positive affect. As long as we don’t pay attention to the fact that we speak with a sound which threatens our survival, NVB will undermine our relationships. We need Panksepp’s brain value systems to survive.