If I am to imagine a world where emotions are the new currency, what would it be like? Well first of all, a world where emotions are now monetizable would be amazing. Something new, different is a good change for us all. Also, positive emotions like joy, happiness, kindness and the likes will become the order of the day. These emotions will receive higher profits compared to negative emotions like anger, sadness, and hatred.
It would be a funny world indeed. But also, a one where emotional intelligence is very high. It will be a world where virtues and morals like kindness, integrity are valued more than anything else. The society at large becomes one raised on the bedrock of positive feelings promoting and fostering an even better society.
However, I 'm afraid things could escalate out of hand quickly. If emotions were to become a real currency, the question is, how free are we to really feel? Some of us might just become constant actors all our lives. The pressure to always feel good to gain more profit may become a burden on us. Some people may result in taking drugs to constantly feel good and happy all the time. Not to mention that our personal feelings of joy, happiness and elation may no longer become personal but public and transactional.
We may not truly know who is truly happy or faking it just because of the money he/ she stands to gain from being happy. Also, I think that in such a world, there would be emotional inequality. The depressed, people with anxiety and rage may become the lowlifes in terms of social class. While people like therapists, caregivers, philanthropists, teachers may become the emotional elite citizens.
In such a world. I believe emotions will be exploited for personal gains. People would only interact with one another based on how emotionally rich a person is.
I can't decide if this would be a good thing or a bad thing. For one, a world with emotions as currency will promote people to always feel positive emotions wherever they go. There will be less of sadness in the world. It will keep people in check of their anger and ill feelings towards others as they stand to lose from feeling that way. This should be good right ? However, constantly feeling high and happy all the time could become emotionally draining. In life there are good days and there are bad days. There are days where you just feel sad and unhappy. And suppressing those emotions can have an adverse effect on us.
As much as I would love to see that world happen, the reality of it scares me.