The Evolution of Emotions

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There's been a huge amount of debate in psychology about the emotions, and there are different extremes. Emotions can be best seen as motivationa forces that are specialized for certain sorts of situations or motiveagients. And so i think for each emotion, you wic more clearly to understand what it is they're for. They aren't jus ol i wish, i wish o be like mister slock and not have any of them. Emotions are absolutely essential to living a full life. Ecause he didn't have emotions,. He wouldn't be motivated to respond appropriately to situations involving danger and threat and love and ungenerous and so on.

We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from? In his latest book, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning, Bloom aims to understand how people find meaning in their lives, and, moreover, to explore what he calls, “the sweet spot” — the proper balance between pleasure and suffering. As one of the world’s leading psychologists, drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, Bloom shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure.