What scientific purpose do human emotions like love, envy, jealousy serve?

Question

Is there an evolutionary advantage to humans to maintain these types of emotions?

It seems like life would be so much easier if we didn't have to feel certain emotions: like romantic love, jealousy, envy, sadness...

Answer 1

Interesting question. I think that if we didn't have emotions like love or even sadness humans would be extinct by now. You see, there are two sides to us...and that is what sets us apart from all the other species on earth. Jealousy, envy etc. are all part of the competitive "animal" side of us...survival of the fittest, etc. Love and sadness are very key in why we are on the top of the food chain. Humans long ago found by cooperating and working together they greatly increased our odds of survival. Plus, because of upright walking and our large brains, human babies are the most vulnerable newborns of any species. The father was necessary for the mother and infants survival, so lucky for us, he "loved" his family enough to stick around and ensure the survival of his offspring. Plus, he would be "sad" if they didn't survive therefore he would try his hardest.
So, yes....in my opinion these emotions are very necessary for the betterment of our species.

Answer 2

my take is that if we're blessed / burdened with those emotions, it is because they were a favourable factor in evolution.

love? when you love someone you want to have children, and you want to take care of the other person and of the children. All of which means that your line will be continued. Whereas someone who does not love, or does not want to care for their offspring, probably sees no offspring, or the offspring die, and therefore their line becomes extinct.

envy? someone in the tribe finds, say, more food, better food, a better way to build a hut. You feel envious, and up to a point this stimulates you to try to also get the better food, build the better hut. This is also favourable to you. Whereas if you did not care, had poor food, a lesser hut, you'd have less children, or they would die, and your line would become extinct.

jealousy? from a man / hunter's point of view, I guess that jealousy means making really sure that you're not spending your energy feeding and protecting children if you're not really their father. From an evolutionary point of view, spending your energy caring about someone's else chromosoms is about the worst deal possible. This is the reason, by the way, why when a new lion becomes the head of a clan, he will kill not only young lions, but also baby lions born in such period that they cannot have been engendered by him!

Hope this helps

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Answer 3

In a word--survival.