Final answer:
The question pertains to the subject of English, specifically English Literature or Philosophy, as it deals with metaphorical language and the possible exploration of Determinism through literature. The provided excerpts suggest a conditioned human behavior analogous to cause and effect, showing how humans might react predictably to certain stimuli.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question appears to be related to English Literature or Philosophy, with a focus on the use of metaphor and perhaps exploring the concept of Determinism. The provided excerpts discuss the idea of human behaviors being conditioned responses to certain stimuli, akin to the pushing of buttons. Evidence of this is seen in the metaphorical language such as "feeling up or feeling down" which ties emotions to physical directions, and in the example where pushing down a person results in a conditioned response - presumably laughter or a smile from the absurdity or unexpectedness of the action.
Metaphors serve as a bridge to understanding complex ideas by relating them to more familiar situations, and in this case, human responses and behaviors are being explored through such literary devices. Determinism is a philosophical concept that suggests every event, including human cognition and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. Therefore, the notion of pushing someone's buttons to elicit a certain response connects to the idea that human behaviors can be predicted or manipulated based on known stimuli.