Social rivalry is part of life for mammals because they live in groups. Reptiles live alone, so they can lunge at attractive food and mating opportunities without worrying about what others will do. If group-living mammals lunged, some would get hurt. Instead, natural selection built a brain that promotes survival by comparing itself to others before acting. When a mammal sees itself as weaker than those around it, cortisol is released (the chemical we know as the "stress hormone") and impulses are restrained. When a brain sees itself as stronger, serotonin is released and it feels safe to act. The good feeling of serotonin is a great motivator for mammals. Serotonin paves the neural pathways that wire a mammal to expect more in ways that worked before. Cortisol wires a mammal to expect harm from things that triggered it before. Alas, a mammal can't easily avoid stronger members of its herd or pack or troop because isolated individuals are quickly picked off b...
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