Are emotions an evolutionary benefit?

I don't know about that. Since it'll never happen, we'll never know.....

 

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Sure we do. Liking is an emotion.

 

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Ahhh!! lol I see what you did there. Clever.

 

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See? You can't be without feelings of some kind, not even for a minute. Even your thoughts and ideas have feelings. I wouldn't be surprised if algebraic equations had moods. Well, they kind of do, to me: I'm mildly synesthetic, so every letter and number is associated with a colour, and the predominant colour scheme of a group of characters would imbue that grouping with a mood. That kind of crossing-over of perception, as well as the psychological effect of lighting, music and wall covering strongly suggests a close - entangled - relationship between sensory input and emotional output.

 

Well said. I would also say that thoughts can amplify our emotions. It's a two-way street.

 

Yea, that’s true, too.

I’ve always thought it went something like this:

Thoughts—-> trigger emotions—-> trigger reactions —-> cause behaviors

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Yep. It can also be very circular.
thoughts---->trigger emotions---->trigger more thoughts---->trigger more emotions

Reaction and behavior are simply an attempt to release the energy within. People find ways to do just that: Hobbies, Sports and Sex.

"Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender"
by David R. Hawkins

 

Will this book free me from ever being triggered again? If so, I’m in

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Of course. Emotions make you smarter.

Same as drugs.

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Absolutely not, but is a good read. He's written a few others; however, those I've read were not as interesting as the above mentioned.

 

Lol!! I was kidding, of course. Is sarcasm an emotion or expression of emotion?

 

Neither. The exercise itself is entirely cerebral. But the motivation is emotional.

 

If emotions cost more than they benefitted, their physical basis and support would have been selected out long ago - in animals as well as people.

Note: if they were a burden, it would be intensively selected against - emotions strongly affect animals and people of reproductive and pre-reproductive age.

 

Isn't it interesting how we can read emotions, on this site, for example? I know when someone is angry, by the ''tone'' of their posts. Or sad. Or happy. Or jovial.

I sometimes can't pick up on joking or sarcastic ''tones'' through posts, however...and it leads me to jumping to the wrong conclusion, at times.

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I understand you were kidding. I wanted tp reply anyway. I really liked the book. Sarcasm is...hmm, good question. The other day I nearly broke an electronic device at work. My supervisor assured me it wasn't broken. My reply was "Darn!" I'm not certain she understood I was joking.

 

I'll check it out.

haha Gotta love misplaced sarcasm. When no one gets the joke, and you feel super awkward.

I just checked on the actual definition of ''sarcasm,'' and it sounds um, quite sinister...''the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.'' What?

Perhaps over time, it's been misconstrued to mean ''I'm just joking.''

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No, it's a very specific kind of joking. I should know, I've actually been suspended from a forum for sarcasm.
It's intended to make the other person look and feel ridiculous. It's used when the other person has tried your patience and annoyed the hell out of you by their obdurate/moronic utterances. Alternatively, when the other person makes perfect sense and stays on topic and you've run out of legitimate ammunition. Sarcasm is calculated verbal humour, aimed not at the recipient but at a non-participating audience.

 

Hmm. I've never viewed sarcasm as cutting per se, but I can see where it could be taken that way. It works best in person, with people who ''get you,'' and know that you're not trying to be mean. But, on a forum, yea...that could get one banned. It's just more difficult to read sarcasm, I think. So, it could come across as caustic or bullying.

 

You're so right!

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Yes, it can be both. It can be used skillfully like a scalpel or clumsily, like a bludgeon, depending on one's verbal skill, wit and subtlety.
It may also serve as a mild, friendly rebuke to someone who's being pretentious, pompous or conceited.
Most of the time, it's obvious mockery and the listener has to decide whether it's justified or not.