Position:Home>Philosophy> Did human emotions ever have a practical purpose in the natural world?

Yes!.

Anger - destroy the danger
Fear - escape the danger
Happiness - remain in your current location/situation
Sadness - leave your current location/situation
Love - protect another with similar DNA
Humor - emotional reset

Any mental evolution will likely be too slow for us to notice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Absolutely! Emotional bonds are even displayed in animal groupings, such as chimpanzees, whales, elephants, and wild horses!. Positive bonds strengthen the ties between members of the group, and encourage group actions that ensure group survival!. These workings are easily observed in both animal herds and human groupings!.

The purposes (workings, activities) of life never really change!. Members of a group still need to provide basic things to ensure group survival: food, shelter, companionship, and reproduction, to name a few!. Emotions and emotional bonds act as the inspiration for providing these things for individuals OTHER than one's self; they initiate communal thinking!.

I do not believe that the human mind will evolve to "not need" emotional bonds!. People without emotions do exist, but they are rare, and considered mentally ill!. Their anti-social behaviour makes them extremely toxic for the rest of the group (humanity)!. We call them sociopaths!.

(BTW, I like cats! Send yours right over!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Writing a book based on some of these theories about human nature!.

One sect believes that Human Nature has Emotion and Agression embedded in DNA, therefore Human Nature is neutral!.!.!.!. neither all good nor all bad!. They saw humanity as a cross between God and Science!. They saw the God part in our emotions, our sympathy, our conscious!. The Science part, in our instincts and aggression!. They believed that we had terrible instincts bred into our DNA but that our emotions allowed us to overcome it, also contained in our DNA and vice versa, that our instincts allowed us to overcome out emotions and sympathy!. They viewed humanity as “The decision to either accept aggression and pure animal instinct, or to accept emotion and pure God given sympathy!. Each individual has the power to choose, but left well enough alone, aggressive resistance will always overcome passive resistance!.”

Boom there ya go!.

Another sect saw that humans were born naturally evil and that society and the environment dulled these instincts and removed their need!. Humans can control so much without the need for aggresion like a common animal!. They saw that evolution would slowly remove this instinct for pure animal aggresion, however they also tried medicinal practices to help speed up this evolution!.
“In our world, the human world, there is no such need for mindless slaughter!. For animal/instinctual aggression in order to kill and feed!. However evolution is slow and it will take time to realize we no longer need such useless instincts!.”-

As far as speeding evolution by medicinal needs this quote was devised to help make it seem more human and ethical-
“The work of God and Science is slow, that is why we, humanity, is allowed to speed it up!.”-

Very interesting huh!?
So emotions may be dropped in evolution or perhaps parts of emotions like aggresion and hate, or love, will be dropped!. Natural selection can be applied to traits!. Some traits are useless and therefore not needed!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Of course they do! It's the primary thing that keeps the human race in balance!. Our emotions are what makes us cooperate and form clans, groups, tribes, nations, and empires!. It keeps our human race going!. We have to have them in order to reproduce to keep our species alive!. We use them to protect our relatives, friends, and family thus, assuring our safety until we mature!. It's our greatest strength and yet, our greatest weakness!. I should think we would evolve for the better with our complicated emotions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Yes

"Just as the pleasure-pain mechanism of man’s body is an automatic indicator of his body’s welfare or injury, a barometer of its basic alternative, life or death—so the emotional mechanism of man’s consciousness is geared to perform the same function, as a barometer that registers the same alternative by means of two basic emotions: joy or suffering!."
"The Virtue of Selfishness" Ayn Rand

"An emotion is an automatic response, an automatic effect of man’s value premises!. An effect, not a cause!. There is no necessary clash, no dichotomy between man’s reason and his emotions—provided he observes their proper relationship!. A rational man knows—or makes it a point to discover—the source of his emotions, the basic premises from which they come; if his premises are wrong, he corrects them!. He never acts on emotions for which he cannot account, the meaning of which he does not understand!. In appraising a situation, he knows why he reacts as he does and whether he is right!. He has no inner conflicts, his mind and his emotions are integrated, his consciousness is in perfect harmony!. His emotions are not his enemies, they are his means of enjoying life!. But they are not his guide; the guide is his mind!. This relationship cannot be reversed, however!. If a man takes his emotions as the cause and his mind as their passive effect, if he is guided by his emotions and uses his mind only to rationalize or justify them somehow—then he is acting immorally, he is condemning himself to misery, failure, defeat, and he will achieve nothing but destruction—his own and that of others!."
“Playboy’s Interview with Ayn Rand,” March 1964Www@QuestionHome@Com

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of course they do!. otherwise we would be even more screwed than we are now!. personally I believe that the emotions we have now have always been around!. times change, people don't!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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