Before I went to sleep last night, I was consumed with a thought about emotions, most specifically, their origins. Jess and I went out for a night on the town last night, and had a conversation about moral judgments, and whether or not they can be absolutes. I was playing devil's advocate without her knowing, which was very entertaining to yours truly. 
Anyway, at one point, she asked something to the effect of where love comes from, implying that it just happens. This stuck with me, because if there is a reason for everything in the universe - even if it is considered rather unromantic - then there is a reason for emotions like love.
But before the cause is examined, let us first examine the process.
Given that, at a fundamental level, all life takes measures to guarantee its survival, it makes sense that those things that promote survival are sought out, while those things that discourage survival are avoided. Humans, venus fly traps, amoebas -- all life displays characteristics of self-promotion and self-preservation, whether through eating, procreating, deterring predators, what-have-you. Let's call those things that aid survival pleasure, and those that inhibit it pain.
Isn't it reasonable to assume then that basic emotions, which occur in those creatures capable of them as responses to certain stimuli (i.e. there is a causal relationship between stimulus and emotion; a dog threatens you, and you feel fear), act as internal flags to indicate to the brain that the stimulus will either yield in pain or pleasure? And as life seeks to promote survival, the emotions will be fashioned as motivators to avoid the pain or seek the pleasure? Thus these basic emotions are the pure pleasure/pain physical response abstracted, and more complex, albeit retaining the same purpose of trying to guarantee survival.
Now, as humans, it is generally agreed that we differ from the majority of species on this planet in that we are capable of reason, i.e. aggregating our perceptions into schemas - concepts - by identifying the relationships between the perceptions and integrating them into a multi-faceted whole that is easier and more efficient to mentally process. And we are able to go up a level from there, identifying the relationships between concepts, and so on. Following the same vein as our established premises above, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that we attach certain emotional responses to these concepts, and possibly very many emotions to all the perceptive chunks combined under a concept? And, like the rest of life, these emotions identify and motivate us to concepts that promote survival or avoid destruction; and yet, in like kind, we deal with the world in a very complex and abstracted manner, making our emotional responses very complex and abstracted. And what is one of the most complex and abstracted emotional responses of all? Love.
Something to ruminate over. More to come, potentially, about the causes.
Anyway, at one point, she asked something to the effect of where love comes from, implying that it just happens. This stuck with me, because if there is a reason for everything in the universe - even if it is considered rather unromantic - then there is a reason for emotions like love.
But before the cause is examined, let us first examine the process.
Given that, at a fundamental level, all life takes measures to guarantee its survival, it makes sense that those things that promote survival are sought out, while those things that discourage survival are avoided. Humans, venus fly traps, amoebas -- all life displays characteristics of self-promotion and self-preservation, whether through eating, procreating, deterring predators, what-have-you. Let's call those things that aid survival pleasure, and those that inhibit it pain.
Isn't it reasonable to assume then that basic emotions, which occur in those creatures capable of them as responses to certain stimuli (i.e. there is a causal relationship between stimulus and emotion; a dog threatens you, and you feel fear), act as internal flags to indicate to the brain that the stimulus will either yield in pain or pleasure? And as life seeks to promote survival, the emotions will be fashioned as motivators to avoid the pain or seek the pleasure? Thus these basic emotions are the pure pleasure/pain physical response abstracted, and more complex, albeit retaining the same purpose of trying to guarantee survival.
Now, as humans, it is generally agreed that we differ from the majority of species on this planet in that we are capable of reason, i.e. aggregating our perceptions into schemas - concepts - by identifying the relationships between the perceptions and integrating them into a multi-faceted whole that is easier and more efficient to mentally process. And we are able to go up a level from there, identifying the relationships between concepts, and so on. Following the same vein as our established premises above, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that we attach certain emotional responses to these concepts, and possibly very many emotions to all the perceptive chunks combined under a concept? And, like the rest of life, these emotions identify and motivate us to concepts that promote survival or avoid destruction; and yet, in like kind, we deal with the world in a very complex and abstracted manner, making our emotional responses very complex and abstracted. And what is one of the most complex and abstracted emotional responses of all? Love.
Something to ruminate over. More to come, potentially, about the causes.
moiread:
I VEE VU. A LOT.