ABSTRACT
In the current discussion, an evolution-based perspective is taken to reinforce the idea that emotions are not simply the outcome of bad genetics or rogue chemicals, or simply reflexive reactions to stimulus events; rather, emotions are adaptive mechanisms shaped by evolution and implemented in the service of a desirable outcome. I will repeat this idea again later, but let me introduce here the idea that we feel bad in order to feel good. Admittedly, this might sound somewhat absurd, but it should make more sense as we continue. Bad feelings serve important adaptive roles in our lives and compel us to make changes in life such that we can feel as good as possible given the circumstances we face. What is difficult about this statement is the implication of conscious intentionality; which is to suggest that the emotion is felt on purpose. It is important to understand that we feel an emotion for a purpose, but this does not by default suggest that it is on purpose. To be sure, we can manipulate our emotions in order to get what we want. Many individuals, male and female, have faked some degree of tearfulness in order to manipulate a parent or lover or, perhaps, to get out of a traffic ticket or some other mess. However, just because emotions serve a purpose does not mean that they are always, or even most often, intentionally produced, at least not at a conscious level of intentionality. As we discuss the role of the adaptive unconscious in a later chapter, we will come to see that the line between intentional and unintentional becomes blurred. However, at this point we should separate the two ideas. An emotion is always adaptive, which means it has a purpose; but it is not necessarily always produced with conscious, “on-purpose,” intention.
