From: Randall Parker 

In , note these
cogitations from blucy{at}mediaone.net Bill Lucy:
> No, you're not. You believe you are being logical, but you appear to rely on
a
> typical Randian position -- that emotion has little or no value in making
> judgments. I don't take that position and never will. The
emotional/unconscious
> choice for me has provided me with a good life. I don't *have* to make
> conscious decisions.

Geez, it must be nice to feel free from the need to make conscious decisions.

But seriously, the reason that Rand's position makes sense to me is that it
dovetails so nicely with my own view of emotions which is a decidedly
biological view. I see them as a product of evolutionary forces.

Why do we have emotions? As a guide to action. Are they always adaptive for
us in our current environment? No, and for a few of reasons.

First of all, from the perspective of our genes the sorts of behaviors the
emotions encourage are designed for reproductive advantage. Well, are we in
the environment that we evolved in? Not by a long shot. So our emotions are
rather like the gills of a fish out of water. We have all sorts of
inappropriate emtional reactions in this rather different environment.

Secondly, they are flawed approximations even in our natural environment.
Our emotions are not generated by a part of the brain that is any more
omniscient and all-knowing than the reasoning conscious part.

Thirdly, what behaviors our emotions encourage are designed for survival
and reproductive success (not just in having kids but in a broader sense).
Well, are such behaviors really in our personal interest as individuals? I
mean, I don't want to simply exist to serve my genes after all.

> *All* of the decisions Elian Gonzalez has made thus far have not been logical
> -- they've been emotional. He's been held, he's been given things to play
with,
> he's been talked to. None of those are "free" choices from a Randian
> perspective. Actually, they are decidedly un-Randian.

He's also too ignorant to make rational decisions about what constitutes
his best interest.

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