[Joe] Do animals have ³emotions²? I answer No! Emotions do not evolve in a level of instinctive evolution.
[Arlo] I'm going to assume the role of "heretic" here and answer from a position that does not restrict socio-intellectual patterns to "humans". I would say that "emotions" begin on the biological level, but only at a certain point in that levels complexity hierarchy. That is, for the foundations of emotions to occur, a certain neuro-physiological complexity MUST be present. SUM: All biological patterns are not created equal. In this view, an amoeba would have no foundation whatesoever to experience "emotion", but a dog or dolphin or human would. The foundation begins here. Next, I would say, that as the complexity of the social patterns the biological organism assimilates increases, so to does the depth, or volume, of the emotional response. Thus, dolphins (with (at the least) rudimentary social language structuring their social activity) would likely experience a greater depth of emotion than, say, a rat which uses less (or less sophisticated) social mediation. SUM: Emotive strength is increased with the assimilation of more sophisticated social mediation. In this sense at the upper end of our spectrum we have humans who have the ability to express and deepen their emotion through song, poetry and prose, art, dance and long ponderings about the nature of "love" by the side of a still lake. But I don't see this as an "either-or" experience. We see great emotive range in social apes, and even the most devout "human worshipper" can surely witness a range of emotion in dogs (I've seen dogs cry by the door when someone leaves, and run and bark in jubilation upon their return). BOTTOM LINE: "Emotions" are best seen not as a "can/can't" dichotomy, but as a range of variance founded in a certain complexity of neuro-physiology and amplified by social participation. What we see at the upper bands of the socio-intellectual spectrum is a very nuanced variance that understands differences between "joy" and "happiness", can experience "ennui" and "malaise", "depression" and "exuberance". But we shouldn't confuse this with the emotive response in toto (thank you, Rosanna.) Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
