[ExI] Point of emotion

[The Avantguardian]

--- Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com> wrote:

> Maybe emotions are optional for toasters, but not for entities with
> more complex cognitive abilities. It's the same argument as for
> consciousness: nature is interested only in behaviour, not internal
> states, so emotions must have some utility or be a byproduct of
> animal-like intelligence.

Are you suggesting that emotions are necessary prerequisite for goal-
oriented cognition? Are not certain psychopathologies like major
depression or schizoid presonality disorder characterized by a lack of
emotion? While depressed people may not be operating well in a social
sense, I don't think one could say that they no longer are capable of
complex thought. While emotions are certainly important motivators in
mating and fighting for monkey status, I am not sure they are of any
benefit in doing unpleasant tasks or tasks of marginal use to natural
selection such as scrubbing public toilets.


Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"Life is the sum of all your choices."  
Albert Camus


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