I've long been a proponent of the Vulcan ethos - that emotions are devices to obscure our search for the truth. As I like to say: "I hate emotions. They make me mad." Emotions had their uses in the earl design of the brain, but many emotions are out-of-date, either because they predate the neo-cortex, or because they are hardwired responses which no longer fit the modern environment.

Which is not to say I believe in denying or repressing them. Given that we have these often random and irrational feelings, the best way to deal with them is full acknowledgement and understanding. Denying that they exist just prevents us from coming up with workarounds and patches or planning with our own flaws in mind.

But it's nice to see my general thesis that emotions tend to lead to poor decision-making confirmed, at least to some degree:

In a study of investors' behaviour 41 people with normal IQs were asked to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had suffered lesions on the areas of the brain that affect emotions.

The result was those with brain damage outperformed those without.

The scientists found emotions led some of the group to avoid risks even when the potential benefits far outweighed the losses, a phenomenon known as myopic loss aversion.

One of the researchers, Antione Bechara, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Iowa, said the best stock market investors might plausibly be called "functional psychopaths."

Fellow author, Baba Shiv of Stanford Graduate School of Business said many company chiefs and top lawyers may also show they share the same trait.

"Emotions serve an adaptive role in speeding up the decision-making process," said Shiv.

"However, there are circumstances in which a naturally occurring emotional response must be inhibited, so that a deliberate and potentially wiser decision can be made."
[slightly longer story]