[Propertarian]

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I disagree.

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Not exactly; mutation and natural selection also gave us rational logic, of course. And shapes whether we will use it or not, how it works, and who will use it.

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However, the awareness that this isn't really going to get you anywhere and that happiness is much, much easier to secure through other methods (having like-minded friends, lowering material expectations, doing things you like, not giving a [censored] about what other people think) gives anyone the power to override the animal instinct.

[/ QUOTE ] I strongly disagree with this; I can think of many examples of people who were aware of the orgin of urges (e.g. people well versed in evolutionary theory who are overweight because of overeating or pursuing relative status or at least distraught about not doing so) who can't seem to stop performing the action.

Furthermore, the emotional traits you talk about often bring people disutility if they don't perform the action traditionally used to satiate the passion. They might not perform the action that the emotion urges them to perform, but the emotion is still their, nagging away at their concious and subconcious.