The Role of Emotion
65
The Role of Emotion
The feelings that force themselves upon us with the greatest tenacity are our
emotions. Phylogenetically, they are among the oldest and most conserved of
feelings: They are found among the most primitive of organisms and have
probably remained unchanged across the ages. Emotions are a powerful way
of channeling the behavior of animals into those pathways that promote the
designs of nature. They play a decisive role in patterning the way of life of
every species.
It has long been assumed that emotions serve as an organism’s first line of
defense: When a threat is discerned, for example, fear instantly sets in. At the
same moment, the heart begins racing, the body tenses, adrenaline courses
through the bloodstream and the organism is ready for action. The emotions
instantly prepare an organism to defend its body or respond to any kind of
threat to its vital interests. According to the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio,
emotions are an extension of a animal’s homeostatic system, the system that
maintains the balance and integrity of the body. 6
From another perspective, however, it may be argued that the purpose of
the emotions is to enforce the commands of nature—to maintain an animal’s
behavior in those paths that will ensure the survival and maintenance of the
herd and the species. In other words, one might argue that the emotions are
not there only to protect the individual, but also to keep him in line. For
example, if a few individuals are too aggressive, they will prosper, but at the
cost of fracturing the group. If a few individuals found it expedient to abandon
their young at birth, they would survive but the species would not. That is why
specific emotions serve to regiment the behavior of individuals. The original
purpose of emotions, in this perspective, is to regulate the personal and social
life of individuals for the benefit of the population.
Emotions and feelings are part of the design of organisms at the most basic
level, just as important to it as its bodily organs are. The individual that is not
induced—in fact compelled—to eat and drink will not survive. If individuals
were not strongly motivated to carry out the complex patterns of behavior
involved in mating, then the population would not endure. It is obvious that
these activities do not emerge out of nothing, but must be implanted in individuals.
If we were speaking of machines, there would be no problem. Every movement, every tug or pull of a component, is built into the machine from the
start. In a motor, the valves open and close with the motion of the piston, and
the connected parts operate in synchrony, each one moving when activated.
Living organisms could operate in the same way: They might be so designed
65
The Role of Emotion
The feelings that force themselves upon us with the greatest tenacity are our
emotions. Phylogenetically, they are among the oldest and most conserved of
feelings: They are found among the most primitive of organisms and have
probably remained unchanged across the ages. Emotions are a powerful way
of channeling the behavior of animals into those pathways that promote the
designs of nature. They play a decisive role in patterning the way of life of
every species.
It has long been assumed that emotions serve as an organism’s first line of
defense: When a threat is discerned, for example, fear instantly sets in. At the
same moment, the heart begins racing, the body tenses, adrenaline courses
through the bloodstream and the organism is ready for action. The emotions
instantly prepare an organism to defend its body or respond to any kind of
threat to its vital interests. According to the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio,
emotions are an extension of a animal’s homeostatic system, the system that
maintains the balance and integrity of the body. 6
From another perspective, however, it may be argued that the purpose of
the emotions is to enforce the commands of nature—to maintain an animal’s
behavior in those paths that will ensure the survival and maintenance of the
herd and the species. In other words, one might argue that the emotions are
not there only to protect the individual, but also to keep him in line. For
example, if a few individuals are too aggressive, they will prosper, but at the
cost of fracturing the group. If a few individuals found it expedient to abandon
their young at birth, they would survive but the species would not. That is why
specific emotions serve to regiment the behavior of individuals. The original
purpose of emotions, in this perspective, is to regulate the personal and social
life of individuals for the benefit of the population.
Emotions and feelings are part of the design of organisms at the most basic
level, just as important to it as its bodily organs are. The individual that is not
induced—in fact compelled—to eat and drink will not survive. If individuals
were not strongly motivated to carry out the complex patterns of behavior
involved in mating, then the population would not endure. It is obvious that
these activities do not emerge out of nothing, but must be implanted in individuals.
If we were speaking of machines, there would be no problem. Every movement, every tug or pull of a component, is built into the machine from the
start. In a motor, the valves open and close with the motion of the piston, and
the connected parts operate in synchrony, each one moving when activated.
Living organisms could operate in the same way: They might be so designed