An Interview with Paul Ekman, PhD

Muchas gracias por el trabajo realizado para el bien de la colectividad

Amazing interview! congratulations and thanks!!!

This interview was sooooo nice. Dr. Paul Ekman is so clear, I would spend hours listening to him, and Eve os great too. Yo see them both interacting was beautiful. Thank you so much!

Ev, that was such a beautiful discussion. The power and energy and love coming from your father and you was spectacular. I wanted to just stay and listen more and more. He has so much to give and thank you for creating this platform.

What a joy to watch this talk!! Love and wisdom are gold and you share them so wonderfully. Thank you!! For the content and the example. 💟

First, it was a delight to not only observe the clear professional respect exchanged between both Dr Ekmans’ but the obvious love you both share for each other AND the love of the exploration of emotions and their role in our lives. Second, I was inspired early in my professional career as a psychotherapist to read Dr. Ekman’s (Sr) model of the basic emotions (he concludes, six, I offer only four are “distinct and unique”). I am disappointed that, even decades later, the simplicity and logic of these few Distinct affective states (be it four or six) has been lost and conflated in confusion and contrast to their correlation to thought and action (behaviors). I offer that in contrast to his clear and simple model, and even in a major conference like this, many speakers overemphasize and suggest that there are dozens (if not hundreds) of emotions and characterizations that are inferred by judgmental descriptors like destructive or constructive emotions, good or bad emotions, etc. is a disservice to that model. I hope that more challenges in subsequent sessions are explored (eg like the one Dr Ekman Sr offered with Dr Ricard when clarifying the difference between an emotion vs an “attitude” of compassion) to the blanket orthodox of perspective already being shown. All in all, an interesting (though predictive) start, so I look forward to see where the rest of the conference goes. Namaste.

thank you so much, i am very self centered, and fear of unknown, so grateful for the courage and wisdom of
1)explored the invisible, might discover undiscovered,
2)what life is for-help others
beautiful and inspiring.

Oh my, I loved this conversation so so much! Eve, the love you two have for each other was so apparent. I enjoyed watching you look at your father with such an admiration and pure love in your eyes. And, of course when ever there is a conversation with Paul, there are so many thoughts to ponder and minds to open. I will be quoting him on his thoughts about moods as well as awareness for many years to come. Thanks for warming my heart.

An inspiring discussion. The last few minutes of your interview together were such a poignant recognition that your Father had for you and his passing of the torch to you with such honor and respect. A beautiful moment between Father and daughter for us all to witness. Thank you.

Thank you so much for the wisdom shared in this interview

So much love and complicity between the father and his daughter !

Such a beautiful 1st day of wisdom!

What a gift it was to listen to this conversation. Truly inspiring. So much metta, karuna and mudita bouncing around between you and out of the screen to us. Thank you Eve & Paul!

It was a delightful emotion that I felt as I listened and watched Father and Daughter share their work for the benefit of the global community. The love you both share is obvious and I began to miss my Father. How lucky you are to have each other, your emotions and the desire to help others.

Namaste and Shanti

Clear concepts and organize conversation which I enjoyed. Wonderful relationship between Dad and a daughter and how in a loving a professional manner, there is space to express care and joy for each other. It is a win – win situation. Thanks for this opportunity.

Hn.

Sitting here in Sweden in my little house in the countryside with tears in my eyes. Wonderful to see father and daughter in this warm and informative dialogue. And Paul Ekman’s remark about mood was new to me, and it really makes sense. During the pandemic and my own isolated life, it’s been very obvious that my mood changes. It’s like waves, much slower than emotions. A mood can last for days, as Paul E said. So thanks for that! And Eve, you’re doing a wonderful job, hosting this event. <3

I feel drown to honor a life´s work, a pioneer, a researcher of essences that managed also to have the priviledge of living to see and share his experiences with who turned out to be Dr. Ekman Jr. my respects to both of you!

Thank you, Drs. Ekman! Carrying love on is quite a gift and proof that emotions can and do exist for the good of all if only we are aware of it.

Thank you so much for letting us be part of your conversation. I found it so helpful, reassuring and inspiring.❤

Thank you for exploring emotions and moods for us, so that we can be aware of ourselves on more than just the level of thought. And thank you to other listeners for your comments, making me feel part of a larger community.

It is a privilege to be in the virtual presence of you both! I just wish my sons can look at me the way you look at your Dad. The importance of emotions and feeling we have that drive us; consciously and unconsciously. “Without emotions we are dead”

That was a beautiful interaction, so much love and respect passing between the two of you. I felt my emotions while I was busy taking notes, so engaged and happy as my core value of life long learning was being activated. After the session concluded, I felt tears arise because I miss my Dad, who passed a little over a year ago. He passed away at 87, the same age as Paul, and his name was also Paul! He and I shared a great love, respect and tenderness toward each other. He was a great rationalist, and an atheist to the end. So…my database of stored memories of my relationship with my father, influenced how I saw Eve and Paul, and how I felt about how I saw Eve and Paul. It is interesting to feel the emotion arise, and watch it disperse. I personally use SNAP which I devised to manage difficult emotions. Soothing Touch for the S, to get some oxytocin going; Name the emotion for the N, to make some room around it and give time to get my PFC on board to make a more skillful response; Apply appropriate Mindful Method for the A, which is any one of a grab bag of tools to shift my feelings, like a grounding exercise, or shifting my attention through the different senses, pulling up a memory with a positive mood attached to it and re-experiencing it, et; and finally the P in SNAP is proceed with Self-Compassion; what do I need right now? This goes along with the tool I used, and then really feel good that I managed it, not to bypass the feeling, but to soothe myself because it hurts. This usually does lessen it, shift it, sometimes makes it go away – but the importance is the intention: to love myself because I’m suffering. I get great eudaemonia from teaching Mindful Self-Compassion!

Hi from Tara in Singapore!I found this session very useful, but was also deeply moved to see the father- daughter interaction- what an inspiration he must have been to Eve! May she enjoy his love for a long time yet!

Hello, Cindy from Holland, Michigan. Oh my, that was wonderful. I am glad I was watching the recording because I had to stop and replay several parts In order to jot notes. Thanks to both of you!