Donny's Blog

“Serotonin levels are not innate and inflexible. They are themselves the product of social status. The higher your self-esteem and social rank relative to those around you, the higher your serotonin level is. Experiments with monkeys reveals that it is the social behavior that comes first. Serotonin is richly present in dominant monkeys and much more dilute in the brains of subordinates. Cause or effect? Almost everybody assumed that the chemical was at least partly the cause: it just stands to reason that the dominant behavior results from the chemical, not vice versa. It turns out to be the reverse: serotonin levels respond to the monkey’s perception of its own position in the hierarchy, not vice versa." “Contrary to what most people think, high rank means lower aggressiveness, even in vervet monkeys. The high-ranking individuals are not especially large, fierce or violent. They are good at things like reconciliation and recruiting allies. They are notable for their calm demea...

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...

A fine piece of music, poetry or architecture becomes part of our physical and moral self, and it guides us to confront our own existence with heightened sensitivity and meaningfulness. 'Be like me', is the moral command of a work of art, according to the poet Joseph Brodsky. -Understanding Architecture