Emotions are good for us

 

"Emotions are good for us. They helped us to survive in the forest, and even today they help us navigate the dangers of life. For example, "liking" something is very important evolutionarily, because most things are harmful to us. Of the millions of objects that we bump into everyday, only a handful are beneficial to us. Hence, to "like" something is to make a distinction between one out of the tiny fraction of things that can help us over the millions of things that might hurt us. Similarly, jealousy is an important emotion, because our reproductive success is vital in ensuring the survival of our genes to the next generation* (in fact, that is why there are so many emotionally charged feelings related to sex and love). Shame and remorse are important because they help us to learn the socialization skills necessary to function in a cooperative society. If we never say we're sorry, eventually we will be expelled from the tribe, diminishing our chances of surviving and passing on our genes. Loneliness, too, is an essential emotion. At first loneliness seems to be unnecessary and redundant. After all, we can function alone. But longing to be with companions is also important for our survival, since we depend on the resources of the tribe to survive."
- Michio Kaku, Physics of the Impossible


*I have a blog post about jealousy that has the same basic ideas with Kaku. Read here.