There’s constantly this theme that anger is some sort of evolutionary fuckup—that when it shows up, you just have to kind of get rid of it, like it’s some waste product.

Yet, if that’s the case, why—after 150,000 years of human evolution (and that’s just for Homo sapiens)—do we still have anger, if it’s such a mistake?

Let’s look at anger a different way.

Let’s imagine that you’ve always been wrong about anger—and that a lot of people are wrong about anger.

That anger isn’t bad.

That anger isn’t a mistake.

That anger is actually a helpful, necessary, very purposeful emotional state designed for specific tasks.

Anger is there the override the fear.

When fear is being too restrictive, anger steps in.

Fear is what keeps you backing away from the lion so you don’t get attacked—but when the lion does attack, anger is what kicks in to give you a fighting chance.

Because fear’s no longer going to help.

Fear is what keeps you careful at the party, so you don’t set off the big drunken douchebag—but once he is set off and it’s too late, anger kicks in to give you a fighting chance.

Fear is what keeps you in a respectful kind of diplomacy with your boss—so you don’t say every raging thought that comes into your head and throw your job down the toilet.

But anger’s what kicks in when your boss crosses a line and starts bullying you.

To dive deeper into this topic, check out the original video here: