Why do we feel extremely happy or pleasant when we think about someone or something you like or love?
In: Biology
Because feelings of happiness, pleasure and contentment are how evolution programmed us to pursue behaviours that improve our chance of propagating our genes. Brains are complicated and need the ability to improvise in order to survive, but that means we can’t be built like machines with mechanical behaviours – evolution can only try to coerce and tempt us with the promise of reward. It can’t demand we eat food. It can’t demand we have sex. It can’t demand we protect and nurture our offspring. It can’t demand we accumulate wealth or find shelter or learn about the world. But it *can* make us want to do those things of our own volition by making us feel pleasurable sensations when we do them. And when we feel happiness just thinking about those things, that’s part of fostering a desire to do them.
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