IUBio

evolutionary significance of emotions !!

cerebrolat at my-deja.com cerebrolat at my-deja.com
Sun Feb 20 10:32:10 EST 2000


In article <88e6a4$1h13$1 at news1.wire.net.au>,
  "John H." <johnhkm at netsprintXXXX.net.au> wrote:
> Clearly because depression is associated with creativity and has much
more primitive but probably more powerful functions, like making you
want to stay inside and conserve energy because its snowing like hell
outside and maybe it will stay that for several months.

I agree that under depression the tendency seems to be "wanting to stay
inside". But in fact I cosider that as the capitulation to survival. In
the non escapable electric shock model rats a "depressive -like"
response,
it translate to me as helplessness. In case of a desease, I'd agree
about the immune system taking the relay, but for social causes it will
not ! The guy want to go back to the uterus nirvana life or just die ...

>  You are assuming that there is only one preferred cognitive style for
all occasions and that's dangerous. Look harder, there just might be
good reasons for feeling bad. Why is feeling good always good? Go tell
that to the psychopath.

Are you mad ? the biological basis of emotions is an exiting matter,
though. For example you use terms as good and bad. Are those pointing to
the evolutionary moral or another cultural one ? Thera are some
questions to ask: Is the survival of the individual or the one of the
species the main purpose of living creatures ? If is the species as it
seems to be proven. How the behavioral rules of nature act on each
individual to achieve this goal ?

I think that may be it is a whole game between the seek of pleasure and
the avoidance of pain.

Felipe


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