I love The Model, to an extent. It’s a very helpful way to organize my thoughts and feelings. There’s a part of me that thinks it has it’s limits.

If I look at my pet cat or an infant, I’m guessing they don’t have sentences running through their heads since they don’t understand language the way an adult human does. Yet, they feel things.

My cat gets scared and runs away if a man with a deep voice comes over. She puffs her tail and does a Halloween pose when she’s feeling threatened. She purrs when she sits on my lap and, I assume, feels comforted. Experts even say the way cats position themselves during sleep is a major indication of how they feel in a certain space.

A baby may laugh when you make a funny face or silly noise, or may cry when someone yells.

I guess what I’m just asking is that: although The Model *can* be applied to everything, isn’t there some sort of instinctual part of our adult, human brains that may be responsible for some automatic feelings? Or does the prefrontal cortex literally take over at a certain point?