[Paleopsych] inner judges on the rampage

Wed Dec 15 16:35:32 UTC 2004

Howard:  

I agree with that control (competence) is a key determinant of whether one
is of value or not, but it is only half the picture.  The other is being
loved.  Effectance/competence motivation and attachment-love are the two
great biomotivators of higher-level emotions/motives in human beings (and
other creatures), and I think they are fully dissociable.  I have
hypothesized that a lack of control is associated with Type A major
depression (associated with low catecholamines) and a lack of love is
associated with Type B major depression (associated with low serotonin).
These are ancient mechanisms: serotonin will turn on threat displays in
lobsters, and SSRIs are effective for many (not all) depressions.  All else
equal, men may be more susceptible to Type A depression and women to Type B,
and there is recent evidence that depression is associated with
right-hemisphere mechanisms in men and left-hemisphere mechanisms in women.
I think the LH is particularly associated with prosocial emotions (including
the emotions/motives underlying the learning, teaching, and use of language)
and the RH with individualist emotions/motives.  

Cheers, Ross 

References:

      Buck, R. (1999). The biological affects: A typology.  Psychological
Review. 106(2), 301-336.  

      Buck, R. (2002).  The genetics and biology of true love: Prosocial
biological affects and the left hemisphere.  Psychological Review.  109(4).
739-744.  

Ross Buck, Ph. D.

Professor of Communication Sciences

      and Psychology

Communication Sciences U-1085                        

University of Connecticut                                                

Storrs, CT 06269-1085

860-486-4494

fax  860-486-5422

buck at uconnvm.uconn.edu

http://www.coms.uconn.edu/docs/people/faculty/rbuck/index.htm

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from
religious conviction."

-- Blaise Pascal

  _____  

From: paleopsych-bounces at paleopsych.org
[mailto:paleopsych-bounces at paleopsych.org] On Behalf Of HowlBloom at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:21 AM
To: paleopsych at paleopsych.org
Subject: [Paleopsych] inner judges on the rampage

If the theory put forth in my first book, The Lucifer Principle: A
Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History, is at all correct,
evolution has riddled us with self-destruct mechanisms, mechanisms that do
away with us when we are not a part of the solution, we are part of the
problem.  By shutting us down, our self-destruct mechanisms shunt resources
to those who have a handle on the crisis at hand and snatches the goods away
from those who can’t get a grip on things.   She turns on those who
contribute to the neural net, to the complex adaptive system, to the
collective learning machine—just as she hands out bio-prizes to useful
citizens of the immune system, lymphocytes and bio-punishments to citizens
whose specialization is momentarily irrelevant.  Evolution, biology,
physiology, or whatever you choose to call our stress mechanism and her grim
reapers do this to maximize the intelligence of the collective enterprise.
In the case of the immune system, some are made wealthy and vigorous, and
some are made weak and imporvished so that the overall system can defeat
invaders.

The key determiner of whether you are of value or not seems to be the extent
to which you feel you have control.  

Is the fact that,

“The pressure of meeting a work deadline can produce a sixfold increase in
the risk of suffering a heart attack over the course of the following day.
And competition at work could double the ongoing risk” 

an example of a self-destruct mechanism at work?  Has evolution done what my
second book, Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The Big Bang to
the 21st Century, claims?  Has it seated inner judges within us to determine
who wins and loses the competition and who is and is not up to the
challenge-of-the-day?  Howard

Retrieved December 15, 2004, from the World Wide Web
<http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996786>
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996786

  Stressful deadlines boost heart attack risk 00:01 14 December 04
NewScientist.com news service The pressure of meeting a work deadline can
produce a sixfold increase in the risk of suffering a heart attack over the
course of the following day. And competition at work could double the
ongoing risk, according to a new study.  Previous research has shown that
intense anger, sexual activity and emotional stress can all lead to heart
attacks. But this is the first time having an intense work deadline has been
singled out as a trigger for heart attack over such a short timescale.
“This is potentially important for patients and for Swedish work law,” says
lead author Jette Möller of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Changes in the labour market organisation have created more stress and
people should be aware of the impact on health.” She cites workload, lower
job security and increased competition in the workplace as factors.  The
study questioned nearly 1400 heart attack survivors from the Stockholm area,
aged 45 to 70, about the period leading up to their first heart attack. They
were compared with a control group of about 1700 people who had not had a
heart attack.  The volunteers were asked questions about their work over the
last year and over the days immediately before their heart attack. The
questions included whether they had been criticised for their performance or
lateness, been promoted or laid off, faced a high-pressure deadline at work,
changed their workplace and whether their financial situation had changed.
Money worries  The results show that intense pressure over a short period
increased the risk of a heart attack more than a build up of stress over an
entire year, and that the heart attack can follow very soon after this spell
of increased pressure. Amongst the heart attack group, 8% had faced a
significant event at work less than 24 hours before their attack.  However,
long-term changes also play a part. Taking on extra responsibility at work
over the last year - if viewed negatively by the participant - increased the
chance of a heart attack by almost four times in women and over six times in
men. And a deterioration in financial situation tripled the risk of a heart
attack amongst women.  Subscribe to New Scientist for more news and features
Related Stories Downsizing raises risk of death in workers  23 February 2004
Science graduates live long and prosper  01 August 2003  Unfair bosses make
blood pressure soar  24 June 2003 For more related stories  search the print
edition Archive Weblinks Social Epidemiology Research, Karolinska
Institutet, Stockholm  George Fieldman, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College  Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health George Fieldman, an
expert in cognitive therapy and health psychology at Buckinghamshire
Chilterns University College in the UK, says the sixfold increase in risk
caused by meeting a deadline is massive, but not surprising.  He points out
that previous research has shown that a person’s chance of suffering a heart
attack is higher on a Monday morning. He adds these studies can help to
pinpoint the stress risk factors for heart attacks. “It is difficult to
unpick the details of what constitutes stress for different people in
different situations,” he says.  The study shows that stress at work can
pose a very real and immediate threat to health, Fieldman says, and adds: “I
must remember to take it easy.” Journal reference: Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health (DOI: 10.1136/jech.2003.019349)  Katharine Davis 

----------
Howard Bloom
Author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of
History and Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The Big Bang to
the 21st Century
Visiting Scholar-Graduate Psychology Department, New York University; Core
Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute
www.howardbloom.net
www.bigbangtango.net
Founder: International Paleopsychology Project; founding board member: Epic
of Evolution Society; founding board member, The Darwin Project; founder:
The Big Bang Tango Media Lab; member: New York Academy of Sciences, American
Association for the Advancement of Science, American Psychological Society,
Academy of Political Science, Human Behavior and Evolution Society,
International Society for Human Ethology; advisory board member:
Youthactivism.org; executive editor -- New Paradigm book series.
For information on The International Paleopsychology Project, see:
www.paleopsych.org
for two chapters from 
The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History,
see www.howardbloom.net/lucifer
For information on Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big
Bang to the 21st Century, see www.howardbloom.net

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