Chapter 12
Other Types of Grief
Only three people feel grief. Mothers feel grief when children die. Grandmothers feel grief when grandchildren
die. Men in love feel grief when women
die.
Nobody else feels grief when someone dies. Women do not feel grief when men die. Men do not feel grief when children die. Children do not feel grief when siblings, parents or grandparents die. Grandfathers do not feel grief when grandchildren die. Friends do not feel grief when friends die. People do not feel grief when pets die.
Nobody else helps their genes by harming themselves to protect another person, which is what grief encourages you to do. Harming yourself to protect another person only helps your genes if:
· you are a woman and the other person is your child or your grandchild
· you are a man and the other person is your child’s mother
Other people feel loneliness when someone dies. This negative effect is mistakenly believed to be grief.
Loneliness is triggered by the absence of affection. When someone close to you dies, you imagine the absence of their affection. Imagining that absence triggers loneliness.
Nobody else feels grief when someone dies. Women do not feel grief when men die. Men do not feel grief when children die. Children do not feel grief when siblings, parents or grandparents die. Grandfathers do not feel grief when grandchildren die. Friends do not feel grief when friends die. People do not feel grief when pets die.
Nobody else helps their genes by harming themselves to protect another person, which is what grief encourages you to do. Harming yourself to protect another person only helps your genes if:
· you are a woman and the other person is your child or your grandchild
· you are a man and the other person is your child’s mother
Other people feel loneliness when someone dies. This negative effect is mistakenly believed to be grief.
Loneliness is triggered by the absence of affection. When someone close to you dies, you imagine the absence of their affection. Imagining that absence triggers loneliness.
Happiness Dissected is a more practical version of The Origin of Emotions.