To: Lane3 who wrote (4813 ) 7/2/2012 3:44:16 PM From: TimF Respond to ...Frank’s major proposal is that the emotions act as a commitment device. When a dispassionate calculation shows that it is better to cheat, the emotion of guilt can act as a constraint to the “rational” course of action. When a dispassionate calculation shows that it would be better not to incur the costs of punishing someone for cheating you, the emotion of anger acts as a constraint, and prompts you to punish them regardless of the personal cost to you. These emotional responses are particularly important where someone has a high discount rate and give a greater weight to present costs and benefits than those that come in the future.These emotional traits are able to persist in an evolutionary setting as the “irrational” behaviour allows people to make credible commitments, which then allow them to gain the benefits of increased cooperation or protection from cheating. For example, if you can signal that you are trustworthy and your guilt will prevent you from cheating someone, you are more likely to be able to enter beneficial trades and cooperative arrangements. If someone knows you will get angry and attack them if they cheat you, even though it is not a rational thing to do in that particular instance, they are less likely to cheat you in the first place.jasoncollins.org
