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Lädt ... I, Mammal: Why Your Brain Links Status and Happinessvon Loretta Graziano Breuning
Keine Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch.  ldmarquet | Sep 1, 2012 |  keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Mammals seek dominance because it stimulates their happy chemicals. An appetite for status develops as naturally as the appetite for food and sex. Status hierarchies emerge spontaneously as each individual strives to meet their needs and avoid harm. You would never think this way in words, but your mammal brain uses neurochemicals instead of words. When you understand the private lives of animals, your neurochemical ups and downs make sense. You have inherited the operating system that helped mammals thrive for millions of years. Nothing is wrong with us. We are mammals. You may say you're "against status." But if you filled a room with people who said they were anti-status, a hierarchy would soon form based on how anti-status they are. That's what mammals do. Our neurochemical ups and downs make sense when you look at the private lives of animals. The field notes of a primatologist are eerily similar to the lyrics of a country western song. A biology textbook resembles a soap opera script. The mammal brain cannot put its reactions into words, so the human cortex struggles to make sense of the limbic system it's attached to. We can finally make sense of our hybrid brain thanks to an accumulation of research in animal science and neuroscience. The frustrations of social hierarchies are not caused by "our society." We are simply heirs to the brain that helped mammals thrive for two hundred million years. It's not easy being human with a mammalian operating system. But when you understand the neurochemistry of mammals, you can stop focusing on our flaws and simply celebrate how well we do with the mental equipment we've got. Mammals live in groups for protection from predators, but group life can be frustrating. Some herd mates always seem to get the best mating opportunities and foraging spots. The mammal brain evolved to handle this. It releases stress chemicals when a mammal needs to hold back to avoid conflict. And it emits happy chemicals- serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, when a mammal needs to forge ahead and meet its needs. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Our brains have been evolving for several million years. As the brain developed, it added functions on top of the old parts -- but those evolutionary leftovers are still in there, and they matter! Dr. Breuning lays it out in the following simple scheme: the oldest and simplest functions are our lizard brain, then the mammal brain built on top of that, and finally the cortex of the primate brain. The lizard brain manages our routine bodily functions. The top level, the cortex is where we do our thinking, remembering, dreaming, and talking to ourselves. It's the middle part, the mammal brain, that's the focus of this book because it's the mammal brain that released various "feel good" and "feel bad" chemicals that motivate our behavior.
While the release of these chemicals may provide the motivation for action, they don't actually force us to do anything. Our primate cortex gives us the final decision about whether to run from something or stay put. But the mammal brain does have a powerful influence over our behavior by triggering these chemicals which are responsible for a whole host of feelings, good and bad.
The role of serotonin is particularly important because of its impact on how we interact with other humans and its affect on our leadership instincts. In mammalian life, those with higher social status had better mating opportunities. Our brains evolved to give us the motivation to climb the social ladder in order to foster the continuance of our DNA. It is serotonin that encourages this behavior. Even though one could argue that there are plenty of mating opportunities around, we retain this chemical programming for social dominance.
I think this is responsible for our ideas of leadership and for the fundamental leader-follower structure. The issue for those who want to create leaders rather than attract followers, and give control, rather than take control, will be that their instincts will signal it's the wrong thing to do. Fortunately, Dr. Breuning explains how we can rewire our brains. Those feelings may never go away, but ultimately the cortex gives us the deliberateness to be in control, not our instincts. (