How I, a Science-Oriented Guy with Zero Vocabulary, Learned to Express My Emotions

How many words do you know that express emotions?
I don't know many at all. Whether it's a book report or a diary entry, ever since I was in elementary school, the only word I could come up with was "fun."

Even now that I'm an adult, I have such a lack of vocabulary that a friend once gave me a "list of words to express emotions" and told me to memorize them.

Despite that, I've found that communication has become smoother since I realized that I can express my emotions by quantifying them.
I'd like to share this method with you.

Is it a problem if you lack vocabulary?

When I was a student, I thought that not having a good vocabulary just meant getting low scores in Japanese class and wasn't that big of a deal, but once I became an adult, situations started to arise where it was a problem.

That is, when I'm talking to women.
Of course, this doesn't apply to all women, but in my case, I've often found myself in trouble.

I guess this level of vocabulary just doesn't satisfy them.

"How was the movie today?"
"How much did you like the food at the restaurant we went to yesterday?"

How would you answer?
Depending on how you answer, you might be seen as boring, or if you get it wrong, it could suddenly turn into a disaster.

Inside the mind of a science-oriented guy

In both math and science, even if there are multiple ways to reach a solution, there is often only one correct answer, and as students, we were judged by a binary choice of right or wrong on tests. So, I feel like many of us are not good at expressing quantities like "how much."
※Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone.

On top of that, since I work in IT, my brain basically operates in 0s and 1s (binary).
In other words, if I'm asked "how the movie was" in the example above, it's a binary choice of "it was fun" or "it wasn't fun."

What is quantifying emotions?

That's why it's easier to convey your feelings to the other person if you quantify them.

For example, in the case of the previous examples, you would answer like this:

"How was the movie today?"
　→ "I'd say about an 8 out of 10!"

"How much did you like the food at the restaurant we went to yesterday?"
　→ "I'd say about a 6 out of 10!"

It's also easier to convey your likes and dislikes regarding food if you quantify them.
In my case, on a scale of 10, I like green peppers at an 8, and I like shiitake mushrooms at a 2 (which means I basically dislike them).

While there are more and more slang terms used by young people to express levels of emotion (like "oko," "geki-oko," "pien," "paon," etc.), if you find those words difficult to use, please try quantifying your feelings instead.

And for all the women out there, if you aren't getting a satisfying response from a man, please try asking him with a number, like "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much?"

Of course, this isn't limited to arts vs. science backgrounds or gender.
Please try using this when someone who "seeks emotional expression" asks a question to someone who "is not good at expressing emotions in words."

Caution regarding quantification

It is dangerous to quantify everything.

For example, if you are asked the following questions by a woman, I think it is safer not to quantify your answer.

"How do you like my outfit today?"
"How much do you love me?"

I don't know the correct answers either, so I would be happy if someone could teach me some example responses.
I don't know when that moment will come, but I want to be prepared.

Thank you very much for reading until the end.