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Old 06-01-2006, 01:03 AM   #54
octothorp
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Of course humans have more emotions than animals, but it's more a reflection of our social structure. We are by far the most socially dependent species on earth. Take an average individual of any other social creature, drop it in the middle of nowhere, and it'll likely survive. The average human will be dead in a matter of days or weeks. The more socially complex the animal, the more emotion: dogs and cats (and wolves and lions) have a wide range of visible emotions; bears, (not really social) or, say bison (social, but not socially complex) exhibit less emotion. Dogs have no need for an emotion like envy, because it's destructive to their pack mentality. They do, however, have social need for an emotion like regret; they use it to demonstrate when they understand they've overstepped their role. Humans, on the other hand, have evolved a complex social structure where envy is a useful emotion, driving us to compete with others beyond need for survival or for play.
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