I don't think your post was off topic. It was a good one. Some scientists think there are two selection levels happened in our evolution: individual-level selection and group-level selection. Individual-level selection makes an individual fit in their own. Obviously, this makes individuals selfish. Group-level selection makes individuals fit within a group. Here it's less obvious, because it might seem as if people are being altruistic, but they are actually not.
Humans began to be ultra-sociable when the conditions were very harsh and difficult for each individual to live on their own. This is when the higher level of the brain (the cortex) was evolved, because now people needed to know the intentions of others, and control their impulses by imagining the possible reactions of others to cooperate and hunt the big game. But eventually, all of this is for the benefit of each individual.
I get all of that. We cannot live alone, even now, where we have come a long way since we first appeared, and life is much easier and safer. But I think to live together, evolution instilled in us some emotions and feelings that push us to cooperate and interact with others. But the goal of evolution as you said is the good of the group. People mistake that with their emotional satisfaction from the interaction. Like the feelings of having sex. It's pleasurable, but this pleasure is just a way for us to keep doing it. We don't think of passing our genes when having sex. We have sex because it's pleasurable and generates in us all these good feelings. I think the same is true for social interactions. However, it seems this pleasure from social interactions isn't activated in some people for one reason or another, and the whole situation becomes purely intellectual. Things become more robotic. We do them just to survive, but without the emotional elements, it doesn't sound right, at least to me.
Last edited by Anonymous37955; Jan 08, 2017 at 04:12 AM.
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