Emotional Momentum

The concept of momentum, when applied to emotions, is incredibly interesting. We've all experienced it, the feeling that some result is inevitable, based on those events which preceded it. Yes, in these situations conditions can change and therefore forestall what seems inevitable. In this sense, our feeling of emotional momentum betrays us. But, on another level, that level on which events create the overwhelming conditions leading to a result, this feeling is clearly instructive. I suppose you could say this is the primary thesis of the book, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, but I'm only convinced that this feeling is of interest because of its psychological underpinnings, rather than its commentary on macro behavior. I'm interested in how a person can find themselves trapped in a series of emotional responses they know to be wrong. Or, how a particular made basket at a particular point in a game can carry a large enough emotional payload to completely change the perceived fortunes of each of the teams involved.

Clearly our responses to events are based upon established models of behavior each of us carry around with us in our heads. Perhaps, then, this idea of emotional momentum is simply a case of each of us knowing how this movie or that normally ends. Someone pisses me off, I say things I already know I'll regret. A player on the opposing team hits a big shot, and my teammates and I all feel like the sum of our efforts to be successful are wasted. Put simply, our reaction to events are based on what we've experienced in the past, what in our view is likely to happen. Perhaps the unconscious John is a hell of a statistician. Perhaps unconscious John just thinks he is.