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At 12:20 AM 12/15/2004, HowlBloom@aol.com wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font face="arial" size=2>If the
theory put forth in my first book, <i>The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific
Expedition Into the Forces of History</i>, 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 machinejust as she hands out
bio-prizes to useful citizens of the iimmune 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.<br><br>
<br><br>
The key determiner of whether you are of value or not seems to be the
extent to which you feel you have control. <br><br>
<br><br>
Is the fact that,<br><br>
<br><br>
“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” <br><br>
<br><br>
an example of a self-destruct mechanism at work? Has evolution done
what my second book, <i>Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The
Big Bang to the 21<sup>st</sup> Century</i>, 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<br><br>
<br><br>
Retrieved December 15, 2004, from the World Wide Web
</font><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996786">
<font face="arial" size=2 color="#00FF00">
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996786</a><br>
</font><font face="arial" size=2><br>
Stressful deadlines boost heart attack risk 00:01 14 December 04
NewScientist.com news service <b>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.</b> Previous
research has shown that <b>intense anger, sexual activity and emotional
stress can all lead to heart attacks.</b> </font></blockquote><br>
There is a big disconnect between the original study or data and the
proposed extension.<br><br>
The proposed extension suggests, in effect, that folks who respond with
zest to the challenge<br>
of VC dominion on Wall Street will survive, while podunks out in
Pennsylvania will die off.<br>
But where do they have more of these deadlines she talks about? <br><br>
Does not the desire to conquer and be in control -- the
"Nietzscheian imperative" --<br>
encourage more venting and manifestation and cultivation of angers in all
forms?<br><br>
What's weird to me is when people endorse that perversion of the human
way of life,<br>
and somehow claim that they are advancing the agenda of Jesus
Christ.<br><br>
The real question for psychology is how people can live with such
obvious<br>
glaring internal inconsistencies. At a first cut, you could call it
tolerance of cognitive dissonance.<br>
But there is more to it than that. <br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font face="arial" size=2>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 <br><br>
<br><br>
----------<br>
Howard Bloom<br>
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<br>
Visiting Scholar-Graduate Psychology Department, New York University;
Core Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute<br>
<a href="http://www.howardbloom.net/" eudora="autourl">
www.howardbloom.net</a><br>
<a href="http://www.bigbangtango.net/" eudora="autourl">
www.bigbangtango.net</a><br>
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.<br>
For information on The International Paleopsychology Project, see:
<a href="http://www.paleopsych.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.paleopsych.org</a><br>
for two chapters from <br>
The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of
History, see
<a href="http://www.howardbloom.net/lucifer" eudora="autourl">
www.howardbloom.net/lucifer</a><br>
For information on Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big
Bang to the 21st Century, see
<a href="http://www.howardbloom.net/" eudora="autourl">
www.howardbloom.net</a><br>
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