As much as I feel joy at the discovery for the advancement of science and human knowledge, a part of me feels sorrow for the wee critter so many years ago. I feel similarly for human archaeological discoveries, the illogical desire to extend warmth and comfort to those long since departed. So it goes, as Vonnegut wrote.
is a weird feeling indeed, but does science have explaination for it? sometimes I really ask myself whether i need this emotion and what it helps with?
Kindness? Compassion? Empathy? We would be a species of sociopaths without those, unable to coexist even in a little herd. No wonder how deep those traits are baked into the mammal brain, they are great for collective survival.
We cannot comfort the departed, but we would likely confort someone close instead.