How are emotions raised by a work of art different from typical human emotions?
I feel that looking at a picture of sadness and feeling actual sadness can have the same ideas, but are very different in reality. I say this because it is not easy to look at something joyful and experience joy. It is easier to have an experience if you understand the situation in its entirety rather than just the outcome. Yes, pictures of puppies being cute are joyful pictures, but we don't share the same feelings as we do with our own animals. We as humans are very "in the flesh" when it comes to happiness. we need to feel it to actually have the experience. That is why reading or watching a movie is much easier to cry over rather than just a sad picture; however, if you know the backstory behind a picture, you have a stronger connection and can then feel a stronger emotion toward it. Pictures of soldiers coming home are nice and happy, but if it has a story behind it, we are more inclined to feel more joy and more relief when viewing it. Sometimes, there are pictures that capture the places we love and the feelings and emotions that come from the memories of said place start to flood the mind and create a wonderful experience. We must have a connection to feel any emotion, otherwise the image, movie or story does not really matter. Emotion is directly linked to knowledge and the more you know about something, the stronger your feelings are toward it.
