The integrated holistic nature of feeling forms an intuitive value judgement or fitness evaluation based on the totality of our inputs, memories and predispositions, it implements a form of ethical choice quite independently of the intellect which supposedly drives our behaviour. Most people act on emotion and not by rational choice, but this is not to say that such behaviours are as irrational as is often thought. Our emotions are learnt over time, they adapt to circumstances and knowledge, being closely integrated and interconnected with cognitive faculties. We can change our instinctive responses, fine tuning them to respond more effectively to modern choices and superseding the initial biases of our animal drives. Achieving this is one of the most valuable benefits of techniques such as meditation, where we question and refine our responses to the world around us. Such changes in emotional behaviour are a prerequisite if we are to transcend the simplistic moralities of the past and bring our minds into resonance with the needs of a more complex global world.