"Sorry about earlier."
Noa apologized, which was unusual for her. She had raised her voice over something trivial.
"Don't worry about it," Haru smiled. "It happens to everyone."
"But," Noa looked down, "I don't understand myself. Why did I get so angry?"
Ren put down his notebook. "Are you saying emotion distorted your decision-making?"
"Yes. Rationally, I knew I shouldn't be angry. But my body reacted first."
Haru thought. "Between emotion and reason, which is the real self?"
"A classical question," Ren answered. "Plato thought reason is the charioteer and emotions are the horses."
"The charioteer's role is to control the horses?"
"Yes. But without horses, you can't move."
Noa looked up. "So emotions are necessary?"
"Of course," Haru said. "Without emotions, you can't make any value judgments."
"Value judgments?"
"For example, why should we help people? Logic alone can't derive that. The emotion of 'wanting to help' comes first."
Ren supplemented. "Hume said 'reason is the slave of the passions.'"
"Reason is the slave?" Noa was surprised.
"It means reason can calculate means, but emotions decide the ends."
Haru wrote in her notebook. "Emotions decide what we seek, and reason figures out how to achieve it."
"So my anger earlier also had some purpose?" Noa asked.
"It might have," Ren answered. "Anger is an emotion that guards boundaries. A defensive reaction when your territory is invaded."
"But they didn't mean any harm."
"Emotions don't read intentions. They react to patterns."
Haru looked at the window. "The animal part, you mean?"
"Yes. A product of evolution. Older than reason."
Noa pondered. "So emotions make mistakes?"
"The concept of 'mistake' itself is a rational judgment," Ren pointed out. "Emotions have no right or wrong."
"But shouldn't they be controlled?"
"Rather than control, understanding perhaps," Haru said. "Why did that emotion arise?"
Noa quietly asked. "If I understand, will it disappear?"
"It might not disappear. But you can gain distance from it."
Ren added explanation. "Meta-emotion. A secondary layer of feeling about feelings."
"Observing myself feeling anger?"
"Yes. Then you won't be swallowed by the anger."
Noa took a deep breath. "Emotions aren't enemies, but information?"
"Good expression," Ren acknowledged. "Emotions are signals that instantly convey evaluations of environment and situation."
"Faster than reason?"
"Overwhelmingly faster. That's why it was advantageous for survival."
Haru supplemented. "If you analyzed danger logically after sensing it, you'd be too late."
"But in modern society, they sometimes malfunction," Noa said.
"Exactly," Ren nodded. "A mismatch between evolutionary environment and modern environment."
"So what should we do?"
Haru answered quietly. "Acknowledge emotions while choosing actions."
"Feeling and acting are separate?"
"Yes. Feeling anger is natural. But whether you yell is a choice."
Noa showed a slightly relieved expression. "Emotions aren't deceiving."
"Rather, they're too honest," Ren said. "If anything's deceiving, it might be reason creating post-hoc justifications."
"Reason lies?"
"Rationalization, a defense mechanism. Making emotionally-driven decisions appear logical."
Haru laughed. "Neither is perfect."
"Because we're human," Noa smiled.
Ren opened his notebook. "The ideal relationship between emotion and reason might be dialogue."
"Not opposition?"
"Opposition leads to suppression of one side. Dialogue lets both have a voice."
Noa stood up. "Emotions don't deceive will. Problems arise when will ignores emotions."
"Good conclusion," Haru nodded.
"I'll face that anger once more," Noa said.
"What were you trying to protect?" Ren prompted.
Noa thought. "...Respect, maybe. I felt lightly treated."
"That's an important boundary."
"Emotion taught me that," Noa said quietly.
"Emotions aren't enemies but allies," Haru smiled. "They're just bad with words."
For the first time, Noa laughed. "So they need translation?"
"Yes. From emotion-language to reason-language."
The three sat quietly. They felt like they could hear emotion and reason slowly approaching each other.