Henri Bergson reminds us that intensity, particularly in feelings, is less about measurable quantity and more about qualitative magnitude.
Emotions (feelings) resist precise calculation; they unfold as experiences shaped by perception, memory, and context. While we can measure stress hormones or neural activity, these fail to capture the totality of intensity: the combination of variables in context amplifying each other.
Our tendency toward availability bias skews this even further, as the present moment overshadows past incidents. Reflection and detachment may help recalibrate our sense of proportion, but to focus on any one event is to empower it beyond measure.