The Origin of Emotions
January 22, 2008 10:32 AM   Subscribe

The Origin of Emotions by Mark Devon “I began thinking about emotions while studying evolutionary theory at Harvard University. Learning that adaptations do not evolve unless they help survival, I reasoned that each emotion must have a purpose that helped survival. If I could identify an emotion’s trigger, I could also identify its purpose."

Non-printing PDF available for your edification amusement, jam-packed with preposterous statements:

"Men only love a woman for 42 months, which covers 9 months of gestation and 33 months of post-natal care. Both sexes maximize reproduction by starting a new reproductive cycle with a new partner when a child can feed itself."


"When you maximize your happiness, you do what is best for the species."


As far as I can tell, he attended Harvard for an MBA.
posted by dontoine (38 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
You know who else attended Harvard for an MBA? George W. Bush.

LOLCRACKPOTS.
posted by grouse at 10:37 AM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


That is pretty preposterous. A 2 year, 9 month old child can't even open the refridgerator, let alone feed itself.

(Also, I'll kick the flamewar off with this: Asking about the evolutionary basis for emotions is far from crackpottery, though his particular methodology may be suspect.)
posted by DU at 10:43 AM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Learning that adaptations do not evolve unless they help survival

Is this really accurate?
posted by joe lisboa at 10:43 AM on January 22, 2008


Oh, I see. That's the point.
posted by joe lisboa at 10:44 AM on January 22, 2008


I hope that the excerpts are not the highlights - won't bother to check anyway, there's something to minimize there.
posted by nicolin at 10:51 AM on January 22, 2008


It bugs me that people perpetually fail to reason out that since natural selection cannot prognosticate, evolutionary traits do not have "purposes." They have causes.
posted by nanojath at 10:53 AM on January 22, 2008 [8 favorites]


yeah. huh. pull the other one.

"Don't make me angry, Mr. Devon. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."
posted by ZachsMind at 10:57 AM on January 22, 2008


Don't tell my husband. He's been twitterpated with me for going on 25 years. I'd like to keep it that way.
posted by konolia at 11:00 AM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


> Non-printing PDF

I think I'll wait for the cracked version to show up on the P2P nets.
posted by Sauce Trough at 11:04 AM on January 22, 2008


I feel like there's a lot to be mined from evolutionary psychology, but this surface level A-emotion-fits-into-B-situation stuff can be pretty silly.
posted by Bookhouse at 11:08 AM on January 22, 2008


I wanted to see what he had to say about the adaptive purpose of boredom but that doesn't show up until chapter 45 so I guess I'll never find out.
posted by kozad at 11:17 AM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


The Amazon reviews (2-stars, 24-reviews)

"This book is absolute drivel"
"This book scores a zero"
"..it is self-published"
"..full-page advertisment for the book in the New York Times"
"..hope that this book was written as a joke"
"all negative reviews of this book are understated" (A Kids Review)
posted by stbalbach at 11:19 AM on January 22, 2008


As someone currently doing graduate work on evolutionary psychology and emotions, I can say without a doubt that this is unscientific doggerel. In some of the amazon.com reviews, people voiced anger at seeing such trivial work written in light of the overwhelming resources available in the contemporary literature on evolutionary psychology, but it just makes me sad. He obviously worked really hard on this, and took this very seriously. Unfortunately, it's just... bad. Bad reasoning, bad arguments, bad scholarship.
posted by farishta at 11:19 AM on January 22, 2008


A lot of this stuff starts well, but seems to have a really simplistic view of selection pressure. We are a social animal, and a lot of behavior not directly associated with survival has HUGE adaptive advantage. Most of these faux-Darwinian analyses seem to think in terms of the lone beast struggling against the environment and spraying its get across a barren world. It's like they mixed up their Ayn Rand with their Evolutionary Biology. While I've enjoyed both things in their place, they are hardly the Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together.

In short - human evolution is demonstrably not based solely on immediate physical selection. You may have noticed our decided lack of claws, armor, and general physical badassness. We evolved this way.
posted by freebird at 11:19 AM on January 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


Origin of the Specious
posted by hal9k at 11:19 AM on January 22, 2008 [10 favorites]


This thing is full of awesome:

Eating is the primary source of unhappiness for children under 24 months. Children do not feel conceptions* until 24 months. They do not feel sexual sensations until puberty. (page 23)

*According to the author, "conceptions": ...direct your behavior.
Conceptions are positive or negative mental effects that are triggered by conclusions.
Maternal love is a positive effect triggered by the conclusions “My child is happy.” Maternal grief is a negative effect triggered by the conclusion “my child is dead."
(page 10)
posted by rtha at 11:22 AM on January 22, 2008


The sad part is, science has a lot to say about the origins and expression of our emotions. Affective neuroscience is fascinating stuff, and a lot of the work in evolutionary psychology is neat, too.

Guys like this really aren't helping, though. I mean, "both sexes maximize reproduction by starting a new reproductive cycle with a new partner when a child can feed itself"? Behaviors that aren't common in reality (to say the least) don't need an evolutionary just-so-story. Next up, he'll explain why humans always turn around three times before they go to bed!

On preview, children "do not feel sexual sensations until puberty"?! Oh. Oh, boy. Wow. This was either written by a computer, or possibly by Dr. Pangloss. Or both, through some sort of Mad Libs style Panglossian simulator. Holy crap.
posted by vorfeed at 11:32 AM on January 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


LOLZ is a positive effect triggered by the conclusions "This book is a fount of Australopithecine insight!"
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:33 AM on January 22, 2008


They do not feel sexual sensations until puberty.

That was my favorite part... I laughed till I cried.
posted by sundri at 11:40 AM on January 22, 2008


Has this guy ever met any, y'know, people?
posted by maryh at 11:42 AM on January 22, 2008


Hilarious, I read the title incorrectly...I thought it was about the origin of Emoticons. Went to the link hoping to figure out how :-/ evolved and was confused by what I found.

I kind of wish my mis-read wasn't one now.
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:47 AM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Oh, I see -- instead of using "data" to support his conclusions, he used "a chart/graph/diagram that he made up." That's science, right? I count approximately 137 charts/graphs/diagrams in the entire book. In total, these were based on -- roughly -- 0 data points. So, on average, each of his charts/graphs/diagrams contains approximately (and remember, this is only a back-of-the-napkin calculation) 0.0000 data points.

I'd also like to draw your attention to page 129, on which the author states: "Men mistakenly believe they enjoy touching breasts because they enjoy looking at them so much."

Snark is pretty much unnecessary here.
posted by ourobouros at 12:02 PM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


I got to the chapter on Boredom. It was more boring than you can imagine.
posted by kozad at 12:05 PM on January 22, 2008


This makes Intelligent Design more nearly acceptable.
posted by Postroad at 12:09 PM on January 22, 2008


I feel humor.
posted by effwerd at 12:13 PM on January 22, 2008


Bizarrely, he sent that book to my workplace to try and promote it. Naturally, we skimmed through it and we all had a good laugh.

Although after a while it felt like laughing at a crazy, schizophrenic person and it got boring.
posted by FastGorilla at 12:19 PM on January 22, 2008


Do not read this book. Go read this one instead. It's actual science concering the neurological substrate for emotions, and how they connect to other brain functions, specifically reason.
posted by lazaruslong at 12:28 PM on January 22, 2008


I also was disappointed not to find a book on the origin of emoticons.
posted by clockwork at 12:50 PM on January 22, 2008


I have just evolved a new emotion: Derisive Ecstasy.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:59 PM on January 22, 2008 [2 favorites]


Ugh. I was SO excited when I read the before-the-cut text, I eat this kind of stuff up. But, as mentioned above, this guy is putting forward as 'normal' behaviors that no one has ever actually been spotted doing. And he seems to be ignoring the whole humans-are-social-animals-who-survive-by-living-in-groups thing. It's kind of important.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:28 PM on January 22, 2008


I clicked on the FPP thinking that this was a link to something stupid and lo! it was even stupider than I thought it would be!

I love pseudoscience. This is almost as good as A Queen's Delight!

Take a peck of garden shell snails, wash them well in small beer, and put them in a hot Oven till they have done making a noise, then take them out, and wipe them well from the green froth that is upon them, and bruise them shells and all in a stone Mortar, then take a quart of earth worms, scower them with salt, slit them & wash them well with water from their filth, and in a stone Mortar beat them to pieces, then lay in the bottom of your distilled pot Angelica two handfuls, and two handfuls of Celandine upon them, to which put two quarts of Rosemary flowers, Bears foot, Agrimony, red Dock Roots, Bark of Barberries, Betony, Wood sorrel, of each two handfuls, Rue one handful; then lay the Snails and worms on the top of the Herbs and Flowers, then pour on three Gallons of the strongest Ale, and let it stand all night, in the morning put in three ounces of Cloves beaten, six penniworth of beaten Saffron and on the top of them six ounces of shaved Harts-horn, then set on the Limbeck, and close it with paste, and so receive the water by pints, which will be nine in all, the first is the strongest, whereof take in the morning two spoonfuls in four spoonfuls of small Beer, and the like in the afternoon; you must keep a good Diet and use moderate exercise to warm the blood.

This Water is good against all Obstructions whatsoever. It cureth a Consumption and Dropsie, the stopping of the Stomach and Liver. It may be distilled with milk for weak people and children, with Harts-tongue and Elecampance.

posted by winna at 2:30 PM on January 22, 2008


"Men mistakenly believe they enjoy touching breasts because they enjoy looking at them so much."

Great, now explain to my why I'm mistaken about my enjoyment of making motorboat noises.
posted by quin at 3:16 PM on January 22, 2008 [1 favorite]


Best part of this thread: konolia's use of the word "twitterpated."
posted by Faze at 4:37 PM on January 22, 2008


Inasmuch as I did manage to breed, does this mean that my screaming fits are a useful adaptation?
posted by nax at 5:16 PM on January 22, 2008


Maternal grief is a negative effect triggered by the conclusion “my child is dead." My rofl reaction to this cannot be a good sign either.
posted by nax at 5:22 PM on January 22, 2008


Not that I RTFA, but could this be the work of a high-functioning autistic?
posted by five fresh fish at 6:52 PM on January 22, 2008


Darn, the FPP sounded promising at first...too bad the actual thing sucks.
posted by Hildegarde at 7:15 PM on January 22, 2008


AskMe: I've been with my boyfriend for 15 months, should we break up and then get back together when we're ready to have a baby? I don't want to run out of man love before the kid can order a pizza.

Thank you for the amusing introduction to an interesting topic.
posted by like_neon at 6:33 AM on January 23, 2008


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