Emotions have been researched for hundreds of years, but we still cannot say for sure why certain events and memories bring on certain feelings. For instance, a thunderstorm might scare some people while other people may sit by the window and watch the raging storm. Emotions may be brought on by different events for differnt people, but the physical events that occur during an emotion are very similar in all people.

Fear
Fear was one of the first emotions to appear in mammals. Fear is an emotional that is important to survival. By avoiding hazards and predators that inspire fear, our ancestors (and the modern human) were able to stay alive longer.

Worry
Worry keeps us alert and aware of our surroundings and our problems and keeps us actively thinking of a solution.

Anger
Anger was a good survival skill. It is used to liven the body to get it ready to fight (or flight).

Embarassment
Embarassment is a more modern emotion that keeps us ready to avoid further embarassment.

Guilt
Guilt is important because it helps us do moral things in the future and repair what we have done wrong.

Excitement
Excitement makes the senses more aware for learning and information absortion.

Joy
Joy is a message to the body to keep to doing the current action.

Sadness
Sadness conserves our energy and tries to keep us from doing the current action.

Those are some of the reasons why these emotions have become important in our lives. The actual physical feeling and what causes these emotions are different for every person.

Do animals have emotion? Where did human emotions evolve from?
How are emotions created?
What role do emotions play in memory?
What is instinct and how is it important?
What is emotional intelligence?

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