On Anger

I think just about everyone has been told at some point to control their emotions. That advice is misguided. We can't control your emotions because they're like reflexes or sensations. Emotions are the mental equivalent of sweating or shivering. What we can control are our reactions, specifically what we choose to think, say, and do in response to our emotions. 

It's better to think of anger as a tool meant to prepare the body for a physical confrontation. It is the fight in the fight or flight response. So anger like other emotions is useful, but it is not the most important one. Fear is the most useful emotion as its purpose is to prevent people from getting hurt or killed. It can be said that another purpose of anger is to induce fear in another and thus prevent or halt an altercation. 

If we go through the other three of the five basic emotions, disgust protects us from disease, sadness cues empathy in others, and joy is the reward of doing things that fit a person's particular physical and mental nature. Joy is often found by accident, so rather than chasing it, it's better to stumble upon in it while wandering. 

Of all the emotions, anger seems to have the strongest link to memory, though fear is a close second. This explains the prevalence of PTSD among people who have experienced extreme danger and thus the resulting anger and fear. From a survival standpoint, it makes sense that bad memories would be more vivid and lasting as avoiding harm is more important than gaining pleasure. 

A challenge for people who are slow to show anger is that sometimes that is viewed as a sign of weakness and thus an invitation for increasing provocations. Anger must be expressed properly. It is better to vent than explode.