Dewey: First Question

What if we did not have art to manifest our emotions but manifested them only in the damage or interaction (physically) with other human beings? How would things be different? Would they be so much different than they are now?

   Obviously, we manifest our emotions in other people partly. This creates the interesting notion that the method in which we influence our friends, family, lovers, colleagues is a kind of art. We are changing them and creating something new inside of them, or perhaps awakening something which has stayed dormant for a very long time. But, if we only manifested our emotions through human individuals, in particular, the flesh. Instead of writing a poem about hating of a friend who betrayed oneself, one hits or attacks this friend. Or if one loves somebody and wants to express it through a song, one can only kiss or embrace that person. Is the world any different fundamentally (taking into account all the emotions)?

   We would not have art and could not transfer our destructive emotions thus and I think it is safe to say our destructive and negative emotions outnumber our bright ones. There would be many more wars and conflicts, on a smaller scale and bigger scale. We would fight so much more and have no way to channel these negative debates inside of ourselves.

   To answer the question simply, yes: things would be different. But it is how they would be different drastically and is a benefit to us? I think that it most certainly would not be. Even for the positive side of manifesting our emotions, we would only be able to show affection physically, which, in a modern perspective, could be misconstrued and thought of badly. Kisses and hugs are only so much; a personal letter though a physical object made of atoms, costing money can still mean so much to a single person, at least in a modern perspective.

   Of course, this argument is made completely invalid when we look at this state of the world as being present from the commencement of humanity. We would act how we would under very physical conditions and would just be altered in that sense without the ability to look into a new scope because we cannot imagine that which we do not have previous basis for. And if art did not exist, we could not imagine it.