NationStates Jolt Archive

We go throughout our daily lives thinking that we are better than the rest of the world because we can "feel". But is there really a point to our having all of the emotions that we have? Love leads to pain. Hate leads to war. envy leads to strife. Sadness leads to depression and suicide. Is there a point to it all or is it just a load of crap.


Sincerely yours,
Priest

Emotions (talking through my hat, here) are in my opinion a 'proto-thought'. Something of an elaboration of survival instinct, and underlying foundation for thoughts. Do you think we would have survived as a species if we didn't have fear?

What? Are you a vulcan?

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"But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality."
Free your mind! (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/berkman/comanarchism/whatis_toc.html)
I like big butts!

http://www.angelfire.com/mo3/terrapvlchra/images/steatopygia.jpg

emotions are for getting other people to do what you want. :twisted:

We go throughout our daily lives thinking that we are better than the rest of the world because we can "feel". But is there really a point to our having all of the emotions that we have? Love leads to pain. Hate leads to war. envy leads to strife. Sadness leads to depression and suicide. Is there a point to it all or is it just a load of crap.


Sincerely yours,
Priest

Well.. I think this is a valid question. I would have to answer yes.

HOWEVER........ I dont think emotions alone are enough to set us apart...

there is a trinity (if you will) of characteristics that together (in order to be effective) that sets us apart... emotions, common sense, and logic


(now.. im going to read this in the morning to make sure it still makes sense LOL)

Without emotions, life would just be:
eat
sleep
mate

Wouldn't you rather want to do something with your life? Without emotions, there would be no ambition. Would you rather just be a drone, like an ant or a bee?

Our 'feelings' only seperate us from plants. Everything that breaths and moves has emotions. Fear, joy, anxiety. Instinct tells them what to do about it. The reality is, you don't get a choice, and in that respect it's a moot point. Don't like emotions? Too bad, you got 'em.

Aside from the ability to make and understand abstractions, what would seperate us is not being 100% ruled by the instinct (fight when angry, run when scared)

Or pretend to be a Vulcan, just keep in mind they never really pulled that off...

What would be the point of living if we had no emotions? If we were emotionless, we'd be machines, just grinding out the necessary functions to assure survival.

The reason I asked this question is because it is not necessary by nature's law for a creature to have emotions in order to survive. I'm not saying that all emotions are bad, just most of them. If we had a lot less emotions, things would get done a whole lot quicker. "Nothing is right or wrong, thinking makes it so." to quote a good aquaintaince of mine.

I think that we'd all be a lot happier without emotions :D

My understanding is that emotions are a sort of biological reactive shortcut for rational thought. They may not be necessary for survival, but the certainly either contribute to it or, at a minimum, do not detract from it.

I think that we'd all be a lot happier without emotions :D

No you wouldn't since happiness is a emotion :D

Without emotions, life would just be:
eat
sleep
mate

Wouldn't you rather want to do something with your life? Without emotions, there would be no ambition. Would you rather just be a drone, like an ant or a bee?

Well to be honest, having only those three things and nothing else in my life wouldnt be so bad :)

Without emotions, life would just be:
eat
sleep
mate

No, without emotions we would do nothing. Emotions set our values, logic determines what best serves our emotions. We generally eat because we are hungry, generally sleep because we get tired, generally mate because we're drunk. I mean, horny. Emotions are our impulses and our drives, they are the reason we do things.

I'd say that hunger and tiredness arent emotions but physical states....

I'd say that hunger and tiredness arent emotions but physical states....

And emotions aren't physical states? The distinction is arbitrary.

If nothing else, emotions are a necessity for one to live successfully in a group. If there's no emotional loyalty, you've no guarantee that individuals won't sabotage each other whenever it suits them to do so. And I'd agree that emotions are the building-blocks of motivations - without which conscious action (one of the most powerful tools humans have) would be impossible.

I'd say that hunger and tiredness arent emotions but physical states....

And emotions aren't physical states? The distinction is arbitrary.

Alright, how about this? Emotions are mental states which stem directly from physical states such as tiredness and hunger. Make sense?

I'd say that hunger and tiredness arent emotions but physical states....

Essentially, all emotions are physical states which take place in the limbic system of the brain, especially the amygdala and hypothalamus.

Alright, how about this? Emotions are mental states which stem directly from physical states such as tiredness and hunger. Make sense?

Nope. Under that analysis, you'd never be able to be made sad by the recollection of a memory. Emotions can come about from solely mental states - which are physical states of a sort, but ones much more complex than fatigue or hunger.

Alright, how about this? Emotions are mental states which stem directly from physical states such as tiredness and hunger. Make sense?

Nope. Under that analysis, you'd never be able to be made sad by the recollection of a memory. Emotions can come about from solely mental states - which are physical states of a sort, but ones much more complex than fatigue or hunger.

Very good point. I'll hand you that one.

It is neither pointless nor a load of crap. Emotions are our reactions to events in the world around us. Your focus is only on possible negative effects of emotional response. For every emotion there are possible positive and negative effects. Yes the bad stuff sucks, but the good feelings are always so much better than the bad. Stop dwelling in the darkness before you get introduced to one of my coworkers.
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Out of all the demons in this world, none is more frightening than man.
And yes I am a demon bent on torturing souls and frightening little children.

Yeah man. Without emotions I couldn't love girls. What the hell, that would suck!

I guess that without emotions we'd be more or less like machines :(

Emotion is what has inspired us to become the dominate life form of the planet (the entire solor system actually) i mean with out emotion we would not be motivated to wonder, to question, and to try and understand the universe around us....and its inspired us to be the only species that kills itself off in large numbers and destroy our habitat. :?

Emotional function comes from an important part of the primitive brain, a part which we share with animals.


http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/animalemotions/happydog.html

Emotional function comes from an important part of the primitive brain, a part which we share with animals.


http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/animalemotions/happydog.html
And demons too. Lets not forget about demons. We have emotions too you know.
__________________________________________________
Out of all the demons in this world, none is more frightening than man.
And yes I am a demon bent on torturing souls and frightening little children.

Emotional function comes from an important part of the primitive brain, a part which we share with animals.


http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/animalemotions/happydog.html
And demons too. Lets not forget about demons. We have emotions too you know.
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Out of all the demons in this world, none is more frightening than man.
And yes I am a demon bent on torturing souls and frightening little children.

Oh, I'm sure you do; I realize that from watching Inu Yasha and Aa! Megami-sama.

Oh, I'm sure you do; I realize that from watching Inu Yasha and Aa! Megami-sama.
We’re actually less likely to hide our emotions. We don’t put ourselves above animals in general either. The only animal that we’ll put ourselves above are humans. We like to make the generalization that humans are sub animal. Not all humans are like that though, mostly just the ones who think that people are above animals.
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Out of all the demons in this world, none is more frightening than man.
And yes I am a demon bent on torturing souls and frightening little children.

I am a Jedi.

We should all take a lesson from our Order's code:

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force

[IC] How do we know that other animals don't have emotions? I'm sure that prey has to experience 'fear' when being hunted . . .

I think that we'd all be a lot happier without emotions :D

No you wouldn't since happiness is a emotion :D

I hope you realize that was intended as a joke. Though I know it's hard to tell on these forums sometimes.

I think that we'd all be a lot happier without emotions :D

No you wouldn't since happiness is a emotion :D

I hope you realize that was intended as a joke. Though I know it's hard to tell on these forums sometimes.
I think he knew 8)

Without emotions, life would just be:
eat
sleep
mate

No, without emotions we would do nothing. Emotions set our values, logic determines what best serves our emotions. We generally eat because we are hungry, generally sleep because we get tired, generally mate because we're drunk. I mean, horny. Emotions are our impulses and our drives, they are the reason we do things.

Only humans and dolphins have sex for pleasure.

The reason I asked this question is because it is not necessary by nature's law for a creature to have emotions in order to survive. I'm not saying that all emotions are bad, just most of them. If we had a lot less emotions, things would get done a whole lot quicker. "Nothing is right or wrong, thinking makes it so." to quote a good aquaintaince of mine.

We may be more efficient, but we would have no satisfaction in the job well done.

The reason I asked this question is because it is not necessary by nature's law for a creature to have emotions in order to survive. I'm not saying that all emotions are bad, just most of them. If we had a lot less emotions, things would get done a whole lot quicker. "Nothing is right or wrong, thinking makes it so." to quote a good aquaintaince of mine.

We may be more efficient, but we would have no satisfaction in the job well done.

Emotional function comes from an important part of the primitive brain, a part which we share with animals.


http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/animalemotions/happydog.html

As I posted above. 8)
Too bad everyone seems to be ignoring our posts....

Without emotions, life would just be:
eat
sleep
mate

No, without emotions we would do nothing. Emotions set our values, logic determines what best serves our emotions. We generally eat because we are hungry, generally sleep because we get tired, generally mate because we're drunk. I mean, horny. Emotions are our impulses and our drives, they are the reason we do things.

Only humans and dolphins have sex for pleasure.

Not true. Many animals exhibit this behavior. Even by a very tight definition, you must include at least Bonobos.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/pleasure.htm

Even dolphins may not really fit that definition (unless you include what may well be defined as rape...)

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/uof-ura041304.php

Even the sexual habits of dolphins have been fodder for fallacies. "Have you ever heard that dolphins are the only species apart from humans that engage in sex for pleasure and not for procreation?" Wynne asked. "I've heard this so many times I always ask, 'So you mean that other animal species know when they're having sex that they're doing it in order to have offspring?'" At least among Australian dolphins sex is quite violent, with most females coerced into the activity, (University of Florida psychology Professor Clive Wynne) said.