The purpose of emotions (while looking at them strictly from an evolution point of view).

[christelsabine 1]

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Sorry Christel I know my English writing skills are not good.


Basically I would like someone who only believes in evolution to explain why we developed such deep emotions and feelings. Strictly from an evolution point of view.


Personally I believe in God and the human soul, But I am also not closed minded and like hearing what others opinions are.


I have been thinking about this and couldn't find a scientific answer

No problem at all, call me man or whateveryoulike , no importance on that, as long as it's not Emil :

Fact is, I do not believe in creation, do not believe in a "person" called God. Evolution is my explanation for our existence..

But, to find out at which stage the emotions came into the game: Who could tell? Perhaps there was same slow development in emotions, or something we today call a soul, over thousands of years like during evolution of creatures? I have my personal opinions on that.

How to measure emotions? Don't know.
BTW: Your English is much better than mine

Christel

dudeist skydiver # 3105

[Shotgun 1]

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You don't see a dog travel miles and miles to reperduce with the mate he wants, he humps what ever is close.

A lot of humans are that way too. And dogs do have emotions, from what I can tell; they seem to be happy or sad at times, and they do seem to form emotional attachments to certain people and/or other animals.

[AlexCrowley 0]

LOL

sorry. there goes me being serious.

TV's got them images, TV's got them all, nothing's shocking.

[Shotgun 1]

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Why did we develop such complex emotions that effect our lives?
It does not serve a purpose in surviving so if evolution is the only answer (it is not for me) how would we explain emotions and why we developed them?

Emotions do seem to serve a purpose in surviving because they contribute to how we relate to each other, our motivation to do certain things, our perception of what is right or wrong, etc.

Humans probably have complex emotions because we have complex nervous systems, which have likely evolved that way because they helped us to survive in our environment. Other organisms that survive well with less complex nervous systems probably have less complex emotions as well.

[kallend 2,146]

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what the hell do emotions have to do with genetic design?

That’s my questions.

Why did we develop such complex emotions that effect our lives?
It does not serve a purpose in surviving ?

WRONG, emotions serve a very useful purpose in surviving both as individuals and as a species.

How?

Billvon already explained. Also, try Googling "limbic system"

And read this.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 3,107]

>If we had no emotions only instinct to build a house take care of our
> young, and have sex once every 9 months to reproduce I think
> things would be much easier.

Emotions are how we interpret some of our instincts; in many ways they _are_ higher instincts. Our brains learn things by positive reinforcement, and 'unlearn' or avoid things by negative reinforcement. Emotions provide positive reinforcement to allow us to build that house or take care of our kids. We get pleasure by being near them and hearing them make happy noises or seeing them smile; thus we learn how to care for them to ensure these things happen more often.

Very simple instincts that do _not_ rely on emotion (i.e. positive/negative reinforcement) cannot elicit very complex behavior. Avoiding heights might fall into the category of simple instinct, but there is no way a simple, genetically provided instinct could drive complex behavior like how to protect a child from danger.

Take beavers. Beavers are not genetically programmed to put X sticks in Y configuration to build a dam; they are just programmed to love dams. To put it in more behavioral terms, they like deep water and dislike shallow rushing water. Those are relatively simple things to program evolutionarily, since deep water=safety and shallow rushing water=you will be eaten if you build a lodge there.

So they stick stuff in rushing water, and the water slows down. After doing this long enough, they start to learn how to use mud, sticks and grass in just the right order. They do this because it gives them pleasure to stop the rushing water noise and create a deep pool, and the behaviors that lead to that pleasing experience are reinforced. Thus a simple behavioral reinforcement pattern (rushing water=bad! deep pool=good!) provides the basis for learning how to build quite complex structures.

>There would be no thought, just impulse, and instinct.

Impulse, instinct and emotion are all very closely tied together. They are the basic programming we get to allow survival without education. Since we have added intelligence (and education) to the mix, we can make better decisions than those based purely on emotion and instinct, which is good.

[skydyvr 0]

Very nice post Darius.

. . =(_8^(1)

[bob.dino 1]

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If we had no emotions ... There would be no thought, just impulse, and instinct.

You don't see a dog travel miles and miles to reperduce with the mate he wants, he humps what ever is close.

...and that's one of the reasons we're currently the dominant species on this planet.

[rehmwa 2]

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LOL

sorry. there goes me being serious.

It's not your fault. I'm not funny, not even in a wry way. But "I know, in my heart, I will be someday" or die trying, it will probably be a homicide.

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[RhondaLea 4]

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LOL

sorry. there goes me being serious.

It's not your fault. I'm not funny, not even in a wry way. But "I know, in my heart, I will be someday" or die trying, it will probably be a homicide.

Well, you make me laugh.
rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[loumeinhart 0]

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We'd just sit around until we died

sounds like winter in Cleveland

[kallend 2,146]

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If we had no emotions ... There would be no thought, just impulse, and instinct.

You don't see a dog travel miles and miles to reperduce with the mate he wants, he humps what ever is close.

...and that's one of the reasons we're currently the dominant species on this planet.

I thought that was the cockroach.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Shotgun 1]

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...and that's one of the reasons we're currently the dominant species on this planet.

I thought that was the cockroach.

[kallend 2,146]

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...and that's one of the reasons we're currently the dominant species on this planet.

I thought that was the cockroach.

Is it the cockroach? I was thinking that the ant was the dominant species, but of course I'm not a professor.

[Shotgun 1]

Hmm... but phytoplankton are cuter.

Jeeves says the dominant species is the car.