Why Do Humans Actually Have Emotions? - Dr Laith Al-Shawaf - #844

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf. He's an evolutionary psychologist, 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 have a felt sense of emotions and how did they evolve? Expect to learn the evolutionary story of why humans feel stuff, whether some emotions are more basic than others, evolutionary explanations for joy, anger, disgust, envy or happiness and much more. Gymshark makes the best gym wear on the planet. They don't do running, they don't do yoga, they don't do extreme unicycling. Gymshark does gym. Their crest hoodie is what I'm flying in whenever I'm traveling. Their Geo seamless t-shirt is what I train in every single day. And their studio shorts in Dusty Maroon or Willow Green or Onyx Grey are all I wear to train in. They're the best men's training shorts on the planet, bar none. The fit and the quality of the fabrics are phenomenal. All of the kits are unbelievably lightweight and sweat wicking and easy to wash and dry. Plus, there is a 30 day free return policy internationally. You can check out everything that I use and recommend for guys and girls by going to the link in the description below or heading to gym.sh slash Modern Wisdom and use the code MW10. A check out. That's gym.sh slash Modern Wisdom and MW10. A check out. Trust really is everything when it comes to supplements. A lot of brands may say that they're top quality, but few can actually prove it, which is why I partnered with Momentous. They make the highest quality supplements on the planet. If you've been struggling to fall asleep on a nighttime, stay asleep throughout the night, or if you're waking up, not feeling rested or revitalized in the morning, their sleep packs are one of my favorite products, which I use every single night before bed. They contain only the most evidence-based ingredients at perfect doses to help you get the best night's sleep of your life. And there is a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can buy it completely risk-free, use it, and if you do not like it for any reason, they will give you your money back. Plus, they ship internationally. Right now, you can get a 20% discount by going to the link in the show notes below or heading to livemomentous.com/modernwisdomusing the code modernwisdom at checkout. That's livemomentous.com/modernwisdom and modernwisdom at checkout. This episode is brought to you by AG1. Over the span of about a year, I tried pretty much every green string that I could find, trying to work out which one was best, and I came across AG1, which I've stuck with for over three years because it's the best. It's the most comprehensive, it's the most highly tested and rigorously formulated. They genuinely care about holistic health, and that is why I've got my mum and my dad to start taking it, and my friends as well. And if I found something better, I would switch, but I haven't, which is why I still use it. If you're on the fence, you're not sure how it's going to taste or if it's going to work for you, there is a 90-day money back guarantee, so you can buy it and use it every single day for three months. And if you do not like it, they will give you your money back. So if you want to replace your multivitamin and more risk-free, start with AG1. Right now you can get a year's free supply of vitamin D3 and K2, five free AG1 travel packs plus that 90-day money back guarantee by going to drinkag1.com/modernwisdom. That's drinkag1.com/modernwisdom. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dr Laith Al-Shawaf.
Why do we have emotions?

**Laith Al-Shawaf** (4:04)
Well, emotions are adaptive and they serve a function, even though they're often maligned and regarded as irrational. And there's a long history in psychology and philosophy of regarding emotions as these irrational forces that get us into trouble. They really each have evolved for a reason and serve a function. And so for example, fear protects us from danger, disgust protects us from pathogens and from contamination. Anger helps us to negotiate with people who are not treating us well enough or who are blocking our goals. Romantic love serves to bond people together in a pair bond to bind each other, to bind two people to each other. Envy is a useful emotion in navigating status hierarchies and so on and so forth. And so each emotion has an evolved function, something tied to survival or reproduction or some other kind of goal that is tributary to survival and reproduction, like navigating status hierarchies and repairing relationships and building friendships and alliances and so on and so forth. And so they all serve a function.