<p>I have recently discovered that the <a href="http://atlasofemotions.org/#continents/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Atlas of Emotions</a> may be a useful tool in a research project I am working on. While lovely to look at, the Atlas seems to lack any description of the data encoded by the shapes of the "mountains" on each emotional continent. By looking, for example, at the <a href="http://atlasofemotions.org/#states/enjoyment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">enjoyment page</a>, one can see that the width of an emotion's mountain corresponds to the intensity interval of that emotion. But what do other features of, say, the amusement mountain encode? I am interested in a general answer to that question but also in the following specifics:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>(Peaks) Each mountain has a peak. How is the horizontal position of the peak inside of the emotion's interval determined? How is the peak's height determined?</p></li>
<li><p>(Symmetry) Some mountains exhibit left-right symmetry, while others do not. Are the mountains designed to maximize such symmetry under the constraint that each peak be visible? Or does this symmetry (when present) encode something about the emotion?</p></li>
<li><p>(Volume) Does the overall volume of a particular mountain encode useful data?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I have sent an information request directly to Paul Ekman but thought some of you fine folks might have some insight.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-06T01:48:48.083Z
It's not clear to me that the graphics are based strictly on something empirical or mathematically reasoned.  From reading the graphic designer's blog, a lot of decisions seem to be for aesthetic and comprehensibility purposes.  Whether they have some precise meaning, I'm not so sure.  Moreover, these graphs represent a specific emotion theory that you may or may not subscribe to (and may or may not be worth subscribing to).
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-06T09:23:59.377Z
@mrt: Thanks for the heads up about the existence of the designer's blog. Could you share the link to the blog you mean if [this isn't it](https://hi.stamen.com/in-2014-the-dalai-lama-asked-his-friend-scientist-dr-2a46f0c6bd80)?
Aaron Dall
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-06T09:26:31.397Z
@mrt: Does this specific emotion theory have a name? Or is there a resource for learning more about it. The Atlas doesn't provide much information as far as links to outside sources and methodology are concerned. And as somebody who comes from (way) outside of the cognitive science fields, I don't really know where to start.
Aaron Dall
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-07T01:51:56.857Z
Yup, that's the blog I was looking at.  The specific theory is called "basic emotion theory" (e.g., [this paper](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1754073911410740)).  At this point, I'd call the theory controversial.  It stands against a mountain of evidence that challenges it deeply.
mrt
<emotion><methodology><cognitive-modeling>
(Ekmans' Atlas of Emotions) What meaning (if any) can be deduced from the geometry of the "mountain" depicting a given emotion?
Aaron Dall
# (Ekmans' Atlas of Emotions) What meaning (if any) can be deduced from the geometry of the "mountain" depicting a given emotion?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-03)

I have recently discovered that the [Atlas of Emotions](http://atlasofemotions.org/#continents/) may be a useful tool in a research project I am working on. While lovely to look at, the Atlas seems to lack any description of the data encoded by the shapes of the "mountains" on each emotional continent. By looking, for example, at the [enjoyment page](http://atlasofemotions.org/#states/enjoyment), one can see that the width of an emotion's mountain corresponds to the intensity interval of that emotion. But what do other features of, say, the amusement mountain encode? I am interested in a general answer to that question but also in the following specifics:

1. (Peaks) Each mountain has a peak. How is the horizontal position of the peak inside of the emotion's interval determined? How is the peak's height determined?
2. (Symmetry) Some mountains exhibit left-right symmetry, while others do not. Are the mountains designed to maximize such symmetry under the constraint that each peak be visible? Or does this symmetry (when present) encode something about the emotion?
3. (Volume) Does the overall volume of a particular mountain encode useful data?

I have sent an information request directly to Paul Ekman but thought some of you fine folks might have some insight.

**Tags:** emotion, methodology, cognitive-modeling

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's not clear to me that the graphics are based strictly on something empirical or mathematically reasoned.  From reading the graphic designer's blog, a lot of decisions seem to be for aesthetic and comprehensibility purposes.  Whether they have some precise meaning, I'm not so sure.  Moreover, these graphs represent a specific emotion theory that you may or may not subscribe to (and may or may not be worth subscribing to).  
> **username_0**: @username_1: Thanks for the heads up about the existence of the designer's blog. Could you share the link to the blog you mean if [this isn't it](https://hi.stamen.com/in-2014-the-dalai-lama-asked-his-friend-scientist-dr-2a46f0c6bd80)?  
> **username_0**: @username_1: Does this specific emotion theory have a name? Or is there a resource for learning more about it. The Atlas doesn't provide much information as far as links to outside sources and methodology are concerned. And as somebody who comes from (way) outside of the cognitive science fields, I don't really know where to start.  
> **username_1**: Yup, that's the blog I was looking at.  The specific theory is called "basic emotion theory" (e.g., [this paper](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1754073911410740)).  At this point, I'd call the theory controversial.  It stands against a mountain of evidence that challenges it deeply.  

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## 0 answers

