Chapter 8
Grandmaternal Grief
People Affected: grandmothers of dead grandchildren
Type of Emotion: conceptual punishment
Conceptual Trigger: “ my grandchild is dead ”
Mental Effect: negative
Key Feature: not triggered in pre-menopausal grandmothers
Key Feature: the closer the child was to puberty, the stronger the effect
Involuntary Expression: prolonged frowning
Synonym: sorrow
Type of Emotion: conceptual punishment
Conceptual Trigger: “ my grandchild is dead ”
Mental Effect: negative
Key Feature: not triggered in pre-menopausal grandmothers
Key Feature: the closer the child was to puberty, the stronger the effect
Involuntary Expression: prolonged frowning
Synonym: sorrow
Purpose
Grandmaternal grief encourages grandmothers to help protect their grandchildren. Grandmothers primarily help by sharing experience.
Conceptual Trigger
Grandmaternal grief is not triggered in pre-menopausal grandmothers. Pre-menopausal grandmothers maximize their reproduction by having more children.
Pre-menopausal grandmothers may feel loneliness when a grandchild dies. This negative effect is mistakenly believed to be grandmaternal grief.
Grandmaternal grief is triggered by a grandchild’s death, whether the grandmother could have prevented it or not. This encourages grandmothers to treat all death as preventable. Grandmothers also want to know if power lines cause leukemia.
Mental Effect
Grandmaternal grief encourages grandmothers to help protect their grandchildren. Grandmothers primarily help by sharing experience.
Conceptual Trigger
Grandmaternal grief is not triggered in pre-menopausal grandmothers. Pre-menopausal grandmothers maximize their reproduction by having more children.
Pre-menopausal grandmothers may feel loneliness when a grandchild dies. This negative effect is mistakenly believed to be grandmaternal grief.
Grandmaternal grief is triggered by a grandchild’s death, whether the grandmother could have prevented it or not. This encourages grandmothers to treat all death as preventable. Grandmothers also want to know if power lines cause leukemia.
Mental Effect
Grandmaternal grief varies with a grandchild’s death age. The closer a grandchild was to puberty, the stronger the negative effect. Grandmothers whose grandchildren die as teenagers feel the strongest grief.
Other Species
Other Species
Other species do not feel grandmaternal
love and grief. Grandmothers have not
evolved in other species, but good mothers have.
Grandmothers are post-menopausal beyond the sexual maturity of their last born. Humans are post-menopausal for 35 years and need 16 years to reach sexual maturity.
Good mothers are only post-menopausal long enough for their last born to reach sexual maturity, but not beyond. Examples of good mothers include pilot whales, baboons and lions. Pilot whales are post-menopausal for 12 years and their offspring need 12 years to reach sexual maturity. Baboons are post-menopausal for 5 years and need 5 years to reach sexual maturity. Lions are post-menopausal for 2 years and need 2 years to reach sexual maturity.
Grandmothers are post-menopausal beyond the sexual maturity of their last born. Humans are post-menopausal for 35 years and need 16 years to reach sexual maturity.
Good mothers are only post-menopausal long enough for their last born to reach sexual maturity, but not beyond. Examples of good mothers include pilot whales, baboons and lions. Pilot whales are post-menopausal for 12 years and their offspring need 12 years to reach sexual maturity. Baboons are post-menopausal for 5 years and need 5 years to reach sexual maturity. Lions are post-menopausal for 2 years and need 2 years to reach sexual maturity.
Happiness Dissected is a more practical version of The Origin of Emotions.
