Reasons For Emotions

[Racoon]

What are biological evolutionary reasons for emotions??

 

There has been much discussion on Thoughts, Sociopathy, Love, Crying, etc...

 

Humans are emotional creatures. Why?

It doesn't make sense sometimes.

Is it to motivate ourselves?

 

Productive emotions >>>

Detrimental emotions >>>

 

Anger is one of those emotions that goes both ways. (it can be very productive and/or detrimental)

 

Why do Humans feel?? Sometimes I wish I were more "robotic". Other times Its good to feel.

 

Jealousy. Sadness. Joy. Anger. Anxiety :embarass:

Can we help what we feel? or do we simply learn to cope?

Can you change your emotions?

 

I believe thoughts are derived from emotion.

It gives preference to dominating thoughts.

Emotions are important motors for our behavior.

[Jay-qu]

It is a good question, they are all tools some of their purposes are clear, while others are not. Example, joy - if you do something good your body is going to reward you so you do it again (thats a clear one) Jealousy - perhaps it could force males to compete for a female :shrug:

[IDMclean]

Emotions are defined by thought. First you feel then you have emotion. Feelings are reactions to external stimulae. Emotions are the rationalization of those feelings, transformed by thoughts and memories, and there by past experience.

 

Feelings serve to prompt one into action, emotions therefore I would guess to be used to analyze the reason for those feelings and to prompt more appropiate action.

[InfiniteNow]

Jealousy - perhaps it could force males to compete for a female :shrug:

 

You might enjoy this book:

 

The Dangerous Passion, David Buss

[Jay-qu]

I think i might ;)

[ronthepon]

Emotions can be considered as something of an internal advisor.

 

I have discussed this elsewhere, I don't remember.

 

The basic point has already been highlighted in this thread.

 

Why do humans feel? Because they have been hard wired that way by evolution.

To clarify, imagine an animal faced with a forest fire.

As you can guess, only those animals would survive which would have fear. If they have no fear, they just sit there, doing nothing and get burnt.

 

Imagine another animal which is doing helping it's fellow animals get some food.

It feels happy and wants to do it again.

If it keeps doing so, it's species finds it easier to survive.

 

Jealousy well, does not exactly help the whole society survive together, but it helps the individuals survive. 'Survival of the fittest'

 

 

 

Just thought I'd say the how some of our emotions are becoming obsolete. I feel happy while I play computer games, while it does no help to my species directly.

[arkain101]

I like the replies in this. I was thinking about this the other day and was involved in a pretty interesting experience related to emotions this weekend. A person I know had an intense outburst of emotions, then afterwards a common effect is uncontrollable actions and responses from a different part of your brain. Hyperventaltion, panic attack symptoms, muscle twitching, and meanwhile a overall feeling of release. The release is met with things almost like childbirth. The body goes through tribulation and when finally calmed the person suddenly feels as though millions of pounds of information has been taken off your I am's shoulders. Even though nothing physical has really been released, the person still compares it to something similar to this.

 

With some use of this example I think that emotions are also a part of evolutionary design hard wired in. They are fixed programs in dna geared to help you survive all kinds of situations when all else has failed, even when it at first makes no sense, like going through a birth like event of hard breathing and moaning and pain then once calmed there comes a feeling renewment and massive exhalation of data.

 

When a person is unable to learn a language, speak it, read it and etc before a certain age of growth studies have shown that they lose this ability for the rest of their lives. Now one needs to get very philisophical at this point when thinking wheter or not that person really is here with us or not. It may feel but can it say anything to itself in order to clarify it has? An example is maybe the person is in pain. Their hardwired emotional reactions a life form has will kick in and it will react and act alive. But is there a person in there able to state that it is currently in pain? See we say ow it hurts, and think statements in our minds and speak them out. But, if a person is unable to even process a self realization, can it be in realization of the pain? It is difficult to work with because there is almost no possible way for us (the minds that can speak) to exist without the process of a thought. The closes thing is a state of meditation and it is in this that all things fade away, a part of you disconnects and loses track of time and often has No thoughts for periods of time. Just like the mind of the person unable to create any kind of information of dialoge.

 

Emotion is the program in action of life, however, can it be existing without the use of information to make it so.. The development of a consciousness of information can enable some type of spirit/soul to the actions in life, like emotions.

 

(speaking of which I my body is feeling very tired and I will let it sleep while I can go and have a few adventures of information in a realm without laws while it rests).

[Panjandrum]

Emotions can be considered as something of an internal advisor.

 

I have discussed this elsewhere, I don't remember.

 

The basic point has already been highlighted in this thread.

 

Why do humans feel? Because they have been hard wired that way by evolution.

To clarify, imagine an animal faced with a forest fire.

As you can guess, only those animals would survive which would have fear. If they have no fear, they just sit there, doing nothing and get burnt.

 

Imagine another animal which is doing helping it's fellow animals get some food.

It feels happy and wants to do it again.

If it keeps doing so, it's species finds it easier to survive.

 

Jealousy well, does not exactly help the whole society survive together, but it helps the individuals survive. 'Survival of the fittest'

 

 

 

Just thought I'd say the how some of our emotions are becoming obsolete. I feel happy while I play computer games, while it does no help to my species directly.

 

An interesting and compelling argument. However, given that I would flee a forest fire not thru fear but thru a rational understanding of the desirabilty of my continued existance, would you agree that humans have reached a point of evolution at which emotion os unnessesry?

[arkain101]

If you fell asleep, and the forest fire surrounded you, hard wire emotions would make you run like a raped date for a lake or something. In the middle of getting burned and crossing death hardwired actions will practically take over, when all else rational fails.

[InfiniteNow]

So would that be like sleep walking, but instead sleep running?

 

Maybe the heat from the fire would wake you up, but...

[arkain101]

Yes, you'd wake up and freak out. You emotional brain (not language brain) would take control. You would not think but youd feel as though your body took on its own control as long as you were scared enough and no rational reasoning could help you.

It seems when all else fails part of your brain that is instinctive survival parts will kick in and drive itself. It can think to but it doesnt need words, it just connects safety with pictures and memories and goes for it.

 

But there are many ways to show how emotion can perform survival techniques that have nothing to do with knowledge you have in your mind or consciosuness.

[InfiniteNow]

But there are many ways to show how emotion can perform survival techniques that have nothing to do with knowledge you have in your mind or consciosuness.

 

Like what?

[HydrogenBond]

Emotions provide a nonverbal way to communicate using facial expression and body language. Even if one just grunted or groaned or used just the F-word, the emotional expression and body langaueg could be used to convey meaning. Watch a silent movie and one can sort of know what the actors are thinking by the emotional reaction to the situation or stimulus. This is sufficient for instinctive survival but culture needed language.

 

Memory, such as language, is created in the limbic area of the brain, which is also associated with emotions. What this does is attach an emotional valence to the memory. Some people are very expressive when they talk, indicating that their use of language is an evolutionary extension of emotions, facial expressions and body language.

[InfiniteNow]

Memory, such as language, is created in the limbic area of the brain, which is also associated with emotions.

 

While memory is hypothalamic and hippocampal, is the language focal not in the temporal/parietal cortex?

[ronthepon]

An interesting and compelling argument. However, given that I would flee a forest fire not thru fear but thru a rational understanding of the desirabilty of my continued existance, would you agree that humans have reached a point of evolution at which emotion os unnessesry?

No!

Take an animal that has never seen fire.

Bring it close

 

It runs like hell!

[Panjandrum]

No!

Take an animal that has never seen fire.

Bring it close

 

It runs like hell!

 

The animal will run thru fear. Emotions are shared between animals and less evolved human alike.

 

Surely the fact that I can survive and prosper in society, and indeed win against any normal human I encounter, is evidence that emotion is unessecary. In fact, tho I am considered to be 'lacking', from my persepctive, it is normals who are disabled, hindered as they are by irrational and easily predicated emotions, which render them susceptable to easy coercion and control.

 

My perceptions are clear and unobstructed by irrelevant 'emotional' concerns. This, it seems to me, makes me more highly evolved than you, since I am a creature of pure reason, not subject to animalistic sub-thought (emotion).

[Panjandrum]

If you fell asleep, and the forest fire surrounded you, hard wire emotions would make you run like a raped date for a lake or something. In the middle of getting burned and crossing death hardwired actions will practically take over, when all else rational fails.

 

This is clearly untrue.