Emotion: The Brain’s Survival Interface

Emotions are often treated as secondary, irrational, or disruptive elements within cognitive systems. This paper proposes an alternative view: emotions are evolved survival interfaces that encode critical information for biological decision-making. Drawing from evolutionary theory, affective neuroscience, and predictive processing models, we argue that emotions function as an internal signaling system that prioritizes actions based on survival relevance. This model reframes emotions as essential components of cognition rather than byproducts or noise. We discuss the implications for understanding consciousness, mental health, and artificial intelligence.