01 October 2024

Why Do Humans Actually Have Emotions? - Modern Wisdom with Dr Laith Al-Shawaf

Dr Laith Al-Shawaf is an evolutionary psychology researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCCS. Humans have a wide range of emotions. But why do we feel anything at all? Why do we actually have emotions and how did they come about? Expect to learn why humans evolved to have emotions, whether some emotions are more basic than others, evolutionary explanations for joy, anger, disgust, envy, awe, happiness and much more…

00:00:00 Why Do We Have Emotions?
00:06:37 How Our Emotions Advocate For Us
00:14:02 Emotions From an Evolutionary Perspective
00:20:54 Are Some Emotions More Basic Than Others?
00:25:02 Why We Experience Fear & Surprise
00:28:34 How Shame is Adaptive
00:36:47 Why Anxiety is So Prevalent in Modern Society
00:44:59 Explaining the Trait of Need for Cognition
00:54:14 Feeling Emotions About Emotions
01:03:49 The Difference Between Envy & Jealousy
01:08:33 Emotions That Aren’t Really Adaptive
01:16:26 How Laith Applies His Work to Daily Life
01:32:55 Where to Find Laith