2.0 – Lesson 2 : Why do we Empathise? (Part 1)

1. Why did Teja panic? What did she do when she noticed the truck? Why do you think she did so?
2. What would have happened to Balu if the truck hadn’t come to a stop?

3. Balu did not feel anything when the truck was speeding towards them. Did the lack of emotion help him in any way to be safe and not be run over by the truck?

Human beings feel various emotions and have been programmed genetically to feel for and connect with people. Emotions have had a survival function since the times we were hunter gatherers. Man had threats to survival while he used to depend on hunting and wild vegetation for food. There were problems associated with birth, battle, death, and attracting a mate, throughout evolutionary history, and emotions have evolved to aid humans in adapting to those problems rapidly and with minimal conscious thought.

If we did not have emotions, we could not make rapid decisions concerning our existence. Depending on how we felt, we would decide whether to attack, defend, flee, care for others, reject food, or approach something useful, all of which helped us to survive.