Thought Experiment

#2 “Your haircut is ugly!”

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Your friend texts you,"Your haircut is weird; you should sue that hairdresser."
For homework, write two email and two in-person conversations that illustrate the dynamics we've been discussing. Differentiate the responses of a person who uses intellectualization and isolation of affect from one who is aware of his emotions and feels hurt and angry. What if the person who got the haircut loves it, or if that person agrees that the haircut is unattractive and feels embarrassed? In one of the dialogues, distinguish between a person who might not fully realize the impact his statement has on you vs. another person who’s aware but seems not to care or seems to want to provoke or hurt you. The best grades will go to the most in-depth conversations, resolved in a way that seems most emotionally accurate. It doesn't matter if they have happy resolutions or less happy ones, as long as they sound like they're real.

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