This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Emotions are Evil: From YKTTW
should be renamed enthusiasm vs. stoicism b/c a stoic has emotions; the conflict is between whether feelings are excited or suppressed.
Haven: "Likelier"? Anyway, after cleaning up a bunch of spelling and grammar mistakes ("likelier"!?), I decided to remove all the contractions, basically because I thought it would be funny.
fhqwhgads: well likelier shows up in the dictionary.
Randallw: I propose this theory regarding the Romulans. The Vulcans took up the pursuit of logic because their emotions nearly eterminated them what with the fighting between various nations. The Romulans solved the problem by creating the Romulan Empire as we know it. They don't fight amongst themselves, though they do plot, because in the Empire they have an authority that governs them. One monolithic state removes the various factions that might fight a war with each other. The Romulans are just as emotion ridden but they can't break societies laws for their own benefit without the Tal'Shiar coming down on them. You could say the Vulcans have learnt to control their own actions, whilst the Romulans have established a higher power that controls their actions.
fhqwhgads: I just noticed that this trope really doesn't portray both sides of the debate. This is just the "stoicism is better" half of emotions vs stoicism and only really covers the reasons that that might be true.
When I think about it, the "emotions are better" and "stoicism is better" sides of the debate each portray things from their own perspective, making them seem just different rather than opposite. For example, from my experience, a story written from the "stoicism is good" perspective would have a character struggling to control and restrain themselves, assumes that a lack of control would be tragic, and that the forces pushing them to surrender control are omnipresent. A story from the "emotions are better" perspective doesn't mention any struggles for control, and instead focuses on other characters who are assumed to be stoic, and need to be converted, or at least that's what I've seen.
I'm guessing that the "emotions are better" theme is covered in works with The Power of Love, The Power of Friendship, and Straw Vulcans, and is so ubiquitous that only the "stoicism is better" side stands out. So based on that, I suppose this trope might be expanded to include reasons why and works in which emotions are better, but I can't really think of any off the top of my head.
Vampire Buddha: I edited theEquilibrium example slightly to make all this natter unnecessary:
