Associative Training?

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Is it plausible that one can train oneself to feel an emotion by associating a gesture (and the contact) with the emotion? I have done this for nearly 13 months and I am unsure of whether it is mere placebo or real. I did one gesture for every time I consciously suppressed an oxytocin rush or harsh emotional shift, which now allows me to coherently emulate an NT. Another one was done every time I felt calm but not drowsy, and it has helped keep me awake, although it could be the pain from a practically clenched fist. Are the effects probably real or are they probably self-deception?

why would you want to? Gestures don't correlate to specific emotions. Someones openness with their body language is personal to them. One gesture should not be interpreted as anything. i think the consensus is that you can only tell by looking at clusters of gestures and know the person somewhat

By gestures, I mean surreptitiously poking my palm with the fingers of the same hand in a small area I designated. I see how there would be a misinterpretation involving conversational gestures.

ah ok. sorry for missunderstanding. that sounds really interesting. i have no idea about the mechanisms at play but i'm sure it is interesting

Maybe I can simplify it further in this way. Although simply thinking of not being too emotionally attached to something can work, associating a specific sensation (thumb's nail on second segment of index finger) would seem to be more effective due to invoking the tactile sense in addition to the influence of simply thinking about what to do or feel. However, I am unsure about the effectiveness of this as a mere placebo, as thinking about feeling something worked to an extent even before I used the associative actions.