James-Lange Theory

Good theories are like good chai — strong, simple, and best shared. James-Lange Theory qualifies.

Like all theories, it explains most cases and none perfectly. Use it as a lantern, not as a cage. A lantern shows the path; a cage only shows itself.

The idea is simple, and like most simple ideas it is easy to nod at and hard to use. The nod is free. The use costs attention, every day, in small change.

A pressure cooker teaches more about time than any seminar: sealed, steady heat does in twenty minutes what an open pot cannot do in an hour. Attention is the lid.

Time is the one currency the Reserve Bank does not print more of. You will meet this idea again this week, wearing different clothes. Now you will recognise it.