Chapter 3
Three Categories of Purpose
Emotions fall into three categories of purpose: individual, genetic and group.
Individual emotions help you.
Individual emotions encourage eating and avoiding physical harm.
Individual sensations encourage you to eat and avoid toxins. Pleasing taste and hunger encourage eating. Disgust encourages avoiding toxins.
Reflexes help you avoid threats. Startle mitigates the harm of a predator’s initial strike. Fear helps fight or flight.
Eating and avoiding physical harm are the only behaviors that help your survival. All other behaviors harm your survival to help your genes or your group.
Individual emotions encourage eating and avoiding physical harm.
Individual sensations encourage you to eat and avoid toxins. Pleasing taste and hunger encourage eating. Disgust encourages avoiding toxins.
Reflexes help you avoid threats. Startle mitigates the harm of a predator’s initial strike. Fear helps fight or flight.
Eating and avoiding physical harm are the only behaviors that help your survival. All other behaviors harm your survival to help your genes or your group.
Genetic emotions help your genes.
Genetic conceptions encourage post-natal care. Maternal love and grief encourage the feeding and protection of children. Grandmaternal love and grief encourage the feeding and protection of grandchildren. Monogynic love and grief encourage the support and protection of mothers. Infatuation and heartbreak encourage the activation of monogynic love. Jealousy and adulterous guilt encourage the punishment or avoidance of maternal infidelity.
Genetic sensations encourage mating and kin interaction. Sexual pleasure, lust and repugnance encourage mating with non-kin. Affection, cute and loneliness encourage interaction with kin.
Genetic involuntary expressions warn kin or encourage kin interaction. Horror and momentary frowning warn kin about threats. Prolonged frowning warns kin about grief by making it tangible. Momentary smiling and crying encourage kin interaction.
Genetic conceptions encourage post-natal care. Maternal love and grief encourage the feeding and protection of children. Grandmaternal love and grief encourage the feeding and protection of grandchildren. Monogynic love and grief encourage the support and protection of mothers. Infatuation and heartbreak encourage the activation of monogynic love. Jealousy and adulterous guilt encourage the punishment or avoidance of maternal infidelity.
Genetic sensations encourage mating and kin interaction. Sexual pleasure, lust and repugnance encourage mating with non-kin. Affection, cute and loneliness encourage interaction with kin.
Genetic involuntary expressions warn kin or encourage kin interaction. Horror and momentary frowning warn kin about threats. Prolonged frowning warns kin about grief by making it tangible. Momentary smiling and crying encourage kin interaction.
Group emotions help your group.
Groups are non-kin you cooperate with. Groups include communities, religions, countries, companies, professions, colleges and social clubs.
Group conceptions encourage maximizing group efficiency. Revenge and criminal guilt encourage the punishment or avoidance of rule breaking. Compassion and selfish guilt encourage helping the unfortunate, which reduces insurance costs. Pride, humiliation, humor and envy encourage maximizing rank, which measures your expected contribution to group happiness.
Group sensations encourage maximizing group territory. Excitement and boredom encourage exploring for new scenery.
Group involuntary expressions encourage maximizing rank. Prolonged smiling makes pride tangible to others. Blushing mitigates humiliation during trial-and-error.
Voluntary expressions usually follow a group emotion. Anger usually follows revenge. Laughter usually follows humor.
Groups are non-kin you cooperate with. Groups include communities, religions, countries, companies, professions, colleges and social clubs.
Group conceptions encourage maximizing group efficiency. Revenge and criminal guilt encourage the punishment or avoidance of rule breaking. Compassion and selfish guilt encourage helping the unfortunate, which reduces insurance costs. Pride, humiliation, humor and envy encourage maximizing rank, which measures your expected contribution to group happiness.
Group sensations encourage maximizing group territory. Excitement and boredom encourage exploring for new scenery.
Group involuntary expressions encourage maximizing rank. Prolonged smiling makes pride tangible to others. Blushing mitigates humiliation during trial-and-error.
Voluntary expressions usually follow a group emotion. Anger usually follows revenge. Laughter usually follows humor.
Happiness Dissected is a more practical version of The Origin of Emotions.
