Emotions and their purpose

Why do we have emotions? What purpose is served by being angry, jealous, or scared? Lets take some emotions and examine their purpose.

Anger
Much of our social conduct is taught to us by society. This teaching mainly consist of rules that make sure that we are within the social norms. Sometimes we find ourselves at odds with the society. For example, if someone breaks some rule of society and takes unfair advantage and consequently makes one angry. The emotion of anger serves the purpose of undoing the teaching of society and takes one back to primitive instincts that are tried and test for many many years. Unfortunately downgrading to primitive instincts does not always work for the better.

Jealousy
Resources are always limited. As in, there are only so many cute girls around. If you happen to be a boy friend of a desirable girl, it is likely that you are well acquainted with this emotion. If you know of a desirable girl and you are not on her list, it is still likely that you are well acquainted with this emotion. Simply put, jealousy makes sure that we protect and pursue our interests.

Fear
This emotion prevents us from casually walking into situation or performing acts that are potentially harmful. It develops with time and is enforced my our mistakes. In the absence of fear, we will have to consciously evaluate all threats in our environment and actively remember what is not good for us. The unfortunate side of fear is that sometimes it causes false alarms. People are afraid of heights or enclosed spaces for no good reason. Similar to anger, fear does not always succeed in achieving its objective.

Guilt
Humans are social beings who tend to form rules with which the whole society can benefit. Often it is possible for an individual to break a rule or two and gain an unfair advantage. Guilt may not be able to prevent one from breaking a rule, it does however attempt to keep it under control. The guilty party may reveal the truth and face consequence or feel bad about doing it again.

Love
Probably the most talked about, written about, emotion which remains the least understood. Simply put, love keeps the human specie breeding and from abandoning our children. In many cases love is not enough. The difficulties of keeping the parents together is well know. Similar to other emotions, love has its problems, but so far, it has done a good job of keeping humans from being extinct by lack of breeding.