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Apoc

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As far as the motivations underlying our behaviors ("goals"' date=' we say in English :D), it's a great question and it's been the subject of a lot of speculation. Avoid the temptation to be reductive here; our social and physical environments are very complex, and it's not always clear what constitutes "fitness" within those environments - appearance, strength, choice of pursuits, reputation, skill, amiability, wealth, etc. The fact that our genes build bodies which "should" mimic, and capitalize on, the reproductive successes of our ancestors doesn't mean that our "basic nature" is to go out and breed indiscriminately, Iceni's anecdotal observations to the contrary [insert appropriate smiley']. If "fitness" - the ability to have a successful mating and raise your offspring to mating age - has meant that your ancestors were able to navigate their social environment well enough to attract a mate and form a stable relationship, then the ability (and desire) to learn those behaviors is part of your "basic nature" as well. The existence of love between human mates (and attachments that look suspiciously like love in other animals) is strong evidence that family structure has been a good strategy for long-term reproductive success. I favor the view that the biological function of emotions is to provide goals, as opposed to the tired dichotomy between "emotion" and "reason" - basically, the "reason" that we have emotions is to have reasons for doing things. I'd point you towards books by Stephen Pinker and Daniel Dennett. The guy I really want to read is E.O. Wilson, I haven't gotten to his books yet. But applying evolutionary theory to various features of our consciousness has been a productive endeavor for a while, in any case.
Is monogamy really such a human system? It seems like a pretty recent development for humanity. Also, another question: why would we develop emotions to justify goals? It seems unnecessary.
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Tengger Cavalry! I think I have listened to almost everything from them at this point, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. They're a group from China but the music they play is distinctly Mongolian folk metal, replete with dombra, morin khuur and that buzzing 'throat singing' that is just as awesome as you think it is. They're also pretty good musicians without the folk elements, which makes for a very well-rounded listening experience.

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