> if our main goal in life is, in fact, to survive/live (and insure the existence of our species through procreation), why would our body, in the case of an allergenic reaction, mount a defense mechanism that could kill us?
Because our bodies are the product of selection over random variation, not perfectly crafted designs for survival. So we end up with systems that, while some are surprisingly simple and elegant, are often complex, convoluted, and despite working well and correctly most of the time in normal cases (and even often in many extreme ones) still can have very bad failure modes.
We have so many built-in mechanism designed to keep us alive that I find it strange a counter measure to extreme inflammation would be excluded. Pain sensors, fear, adrenaline, etc.
Inflammation is itself a countermeasure. It's the same principle as boiling water before you drink it or cooking meat before you eat it. How many countermeasures do you provide for the countermeasures?
Because our bodies are the product of selection over random variation, not perfectly crafted designs for survival. So we end up with systems that, while some are surprisingly simple and elegant, are often complex, convoluted, and despite working well and correctly most of the time in normal cases (and even often in many extreme ones) still can have very bad failure modes.