[ExI] Overthinking too much?

[Stuart LaForge]

On 2024-11-24 04:18, BillK via extropy-chat wrote:
> Overthinking what you said? It's your 'lizard brain' talking to newer,
> advanced parts of your brain
> by Northwestern University.       November 23, 2024
> 
> <https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-overthinking-lizard-brain-advanced.html>
> Quotes:
> In a new Northwestern Medicine study, scientists sought to better
> understand how humans evolved to become so skilled at thinking about
> what's happening in other peoples' minds. The findings could have
> implications for one day treating psychiatric conditions such as
> anxiety and depression.
> 
> The study found the more recently evolved and advanced parts of the
> human brain that support social interactions—called the social
> cognitive network—are connected to and in constant communication with
> an ancient part of the brain called the amygdala.
> ---------------

That is insightful research that helps explain social anxiety. The 
amygdala is the seat of fear and if the parts of the brain that mediate 
social awareness and functioning are directly connected to it, that 
seems very reasonable. Now they should look to see if those parts are 
also connected to the hedonic hotspots of the brain notably the Nucleus 
Accumbens and the Ventral Pallidum. Variance in wiring between these 
regions might explain introversion and extroversion.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4425246/

> But it doesn't give any hints about how to solve the problem.........

Sure it does. The article seems to imply that the parts of your brain 
that THINK about your social interactions are more likely to cause you 
fear than pleasure. The simple truth is that when you are out in public, 
the overwhelming majority of people you encounter are, not only not 
thinking negatively about you, but not thinking about you at all. That 
being said, you have the ability to change that by the way you talk, 
act, and dress. Very few people notice you, unless you deliberately 
court their attention. Therefore why would you fear the thoughts of 
others, when you control when and where they occur?

If you want the hardware fix, then you will have to wait for Neuralink 
to develop a wire-heading rig so you can send social input the hedonic 
hotspots of your brain. ;-)

Stuart LaForge