Anxiety is the scourge of our time. One way or another, we all are faced with a feeling of uncertainty, a painful expectation of unpleasant events, a vague premonition of impending danger. Obviously, the feeling of anxiety is directly related to us and the environment in which we live.
Have you noticed that there is a non-linear relationship between well-being, the level of prosperity and security of the population in a particular country and the level of suicide, the number of mental disorders, destructive ideas for a person and society?
The answer to the question about the nature of our anxiety and anxiety and how to cope with them must be sought in the work of our brain . In the peculiarities of its formation and functioning in the modern world, in an era of abundance.
Why is mind needed?
We live in an era of abundance. We produce many things that we simply do not need, and are even harmful to health: cigarettes, coffee, alcohol, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, French fries and much more, without which a modern man can no longer imagine life.
In addition, many sophisticated and high-tech products have enormous redundancy. In other words, those additional functionality, properties and characteristics that we simply do not need, or those that do not give us a tangible increase in usability, speed and efficiency. For example, the resolution of 4 and 8K on TVs, which we will not see anyway, the prohibitive speed of cars and much more.
Redundancy is a product of an era of abundance. Redundancy in everything. But it was not always so.
The era of abundance did not come in all countries and not simultaneously. In the USA, it began in the 50s of the last century, there was no need to work hard to just live. In Russia and other post-Soviet countries, the time of abundance appeared relatively recently, 20 years ago.
And before that, man and humanity as a whole had to simply survive. To get food for yourself by hard work. Fight constantly. Reason appeared as a mechanism that emerged as a result of evolution, which ensured the survival and development of mankind. A mechanism that made it possible to coordinate the efforts of a large group in planning and achieving results. And now the need to survive has disappeared for a significant part of humanity.
The human mind is not adapted to life in an age of abundance. He is an excess, what we feel depression, our uselessness and loneliness.When a person loses the need to survive and fight, reason rather interferes than helps. A person begins to think about the meaning of his own being and plunges into the abyss of uncertainty, uncertainty and depression.
According to the modern definition, Intelligence is the ability to adapt to changes in the environment. The mind can be defined in the same way. And what should we adapt to now, if the world is adapting more and more to us?
Our calculating brain and its derivative mind does not need to solve the problem of survival. In any case, this is the case in many countries. You can just sit on welfare and live relatively comfortably.
The brain has evolved in order to ensure the survival of humans and all humanity in a group. The world is small and simple, there are many problems and dangers, lack of information. The mind was needed to constantly solve unpredictable problems, just to survive.
Now the world is big and complex, there is an excessive amount of information, there are no problems and dangers. Everything is predictable and regulated. Reason is superfluous in this scheme. He simply cannot process those huge flows of external information in order to make a rational decision or make a rational choice. But this is no longer necessary if the world adapts to a person, and numerous social laws make it predictable.
Rat paradise
But what will happen if the world becomes fully adapted to human needs? Science fiction writers like to describe such a world in their works. For example, Stanislav Lem "Return from the Stars". Robots take care of humanity, work and what to do is optional. Defeated gravity, disease, no accidents. No aggression. In this work, human society has not changed much.
An experiment called Universe 25 gives an idea of what can happen in an era of complete abundance and security. During this experiment, American ethologist John Calhouncreated a "rat paradise" - the ideal environment for the rat community, in which there was plenty of everything: food and water. After reaching the "heyday", castes of privileged and outcast appeared in the population. Then the males and females became isolated, lost interest in breeding, and the population died out.
This experiment is often misinterpreted. Not abundance led to the degradation and extinction of the population, but isolation, a closed territory. This is evidenced by the example of rabbits in Australia, which, with an abundance of resources and the absence of restrictions, multiplied to unimaginable sizes.
However, this will not help us much. Human civilization develops exactly like a rat in a tank during an experiment. Yes, they're just rats. But both people and rats are the result of evolution, those who survived. We cannot apply the results of the rat experiment to humans. Experiment Universe-25 raises many questions and has many interpretations. But it cannot be denied that access to resources and the limitation of personal space affect both the individual and society as a whole.
The whole point of living on earth is to survive. And if you don't have to survive, then why live? This is where philosophy came from, and then psychiatry.
Paradoxically, if we do not need to survive, then we must reject the mind in order to survive. Reason cannot accommodate the global idiocy that is happening now. Sleep of reason breeds monsters.Personal territory is limited by the density of the population in cities. There are enough resources to not work, live on the street and still be safe. Moreover, many processes in modern society are strikingly reminiscent of those that took place in the rat tank during the experiment.
Have you noticed that there is a non-linear relationship between well-being, the level of wealth and security of the population in a particular country and the level of suicide, the number of mental disorders, and the number of ideas destructive for a person and society?
For developed countries, the crisis leads to a decrease in mortality, for underdeveloped countries - to an increase.
In the first case, the brain begins to work and fight for survival. In the second case, it stops doing it, because nothing can be done.
No need to come up with conspiracy theories, the theory of evolution is enough.
One of the oldest forms of escape from reality is faith. From ancient cults, which we call pagan, to modern religions. And besides them, there are many other modern cults and objects of worship. Brands, sports and movie stars, successful businessmen and politicians.
We run away from choice, from independence, from freedom. We just don't know what to do about it.
I like the way S. Lukyanenko talks about reason in his book “Spectrum”.
- Why is mind needed?
- As a means of survival ...
- To ask stupid questions!
- To be tormented by the meaning of life! To be afraid of death! To invent God!
For most actions, a person does not need reason; reason and instincts are enough, the very System 1 or autopilot , which perfectly allows us to function in a predictable environment.
The rapid development of technology has led to the fact that the mind is not able to cope with the entire flow of incoming information, to realize it, analyze it and make an informed decision.
So he just stopped doing it and isolated himself. That's just the energy that is intended for the active work of the brain has not gone anywhere.
Reasons for concern in the modern world
Mind pressure
Our brain is activated by the energy of the reticular formation . It is produced constantly to keep the brain active. Our memory is volatile, constantly requires energy. The brain is a kind of nuclear reactor, it cannot be taken and drowned out. Even when we are in a dream or unconscious, the brain continues to work. For a living being with a brain, zero activity is impossible. We need activity, whatever, just to live.
If we don't need reason for solving specific problems, then it turns into a heavy burden. Internal energy without a vector and point of application can simply break it. This is how the kettle melts without water, put on fire.
The brain energy generated by the reticular formation can be directed to creation, creativity. For "active thinking", the creation of works of art, the active solution of many business problems. There are other tasks that require enormous amounts of nerve energy. For example, work with people and many others. The irrepressible energy of the awakened brain is used not to find imaginary enemies, but to solve specific problems .
It's time to remember Freud's grandfather to remember. He argued that if sexual energy does not find a direct outlet, then it will still be realized, but in a different version. In science, sports, creativity.
If the energy has not found a way out, then this leads to an increase in anxiety, neuroses, obsessive thoughts, panic attacks, and more.
Therefore, one way to reduce anxiety is to engage in activities that require serious mental activity. As we know, while solving problems, the default system of the brain is deactivated , and the energy consumption of the brain decreases. You can also slow down the activity of the brain's default system with meditation.
But not everyone practices meditation, and not everyone has a point of application of their intellect. The mind, which has not found a use for itself, is able to create a very terrible and dangerous world, thousands of realities, one frightening the other.
How strong are our worries?
Feeling anxious is a positive acquisition. This is a consequence of the body's mobilization to respond effectively to danger. How does the body know when it's time to mobilize? Of course, from the environment with the help of the senses. There are many messages around us about real and potential threats to the surrounding world, real and potential dangers. Fear is what drives our ancient brain and causes the reticular formation to produce energy and activate our brain.
In the event of serious and potentially dangerous events, which are constantly reported to us through television, newspapers and the Internet, our brains begin to sense danger and prepare for protection. The more often we see and hear about potential danger, the more seriously we take it and the more we fear it. If we are unable to do anything to reduce uncertainty, then we begin to feel anxiety with a greater or lesser degree of awareness of its causes. The less real opportunities we have to influence the situation, the more helpless we feel, and the more worried.
A new world of anxious neurotics
If the brain does not solve a specific problem , it switches to rest mode. Energy activates those stable neural connections that have been formed during our life in society. Dominants, unclosed gestalts - all emotionally saturated and, mainly, negative situations that we are doomed to live again and again, replaying them in our head over and over again, as an actor plays his role on stage.
An idle mind is doomed to wander in a world of internal unresolved conflicts.If for us something that is difficult to imagine is emotionally saturated, then we do not even realize it. We will simply experience unaccountable anxiety, anxiety without a specific object that causes it, without a direction. A person who is afraid of the virus actually experiences a subconscious fear of death.
Animals are simple, they are guided by instincts. If the cat gets cold, it looks for shelter. If hungry - looking for food. And that's all. The instinct of self-preservation in its purest form, not burdened with the need to seek the meaning of one's existence.
For a person, everything is different.
Life without the need to survive, to solve problems is empty and meaningless.A set of everyday actions, typical emotions, standard situations. We desperately keep our illusions and rituals, only to not think, because thinking is painful and difficult.
The world of abundance is a world of anxious neurotics who have found no use for their minds.One of the most important illusions that we want to preserve is the illusion that we ourselves make decisions, at least manage something. Probably, ever since we became aware of ourselves, we attribute our choices to our own decisions. But are we free? Our brain creates for us an illusory reality in which we control at least something and at least control something . The reality in which we can live, continuing to joyfully degrade.
Fleeing from depression, neuroses and anxiety disorders, we, like squirrels in a wheel, run in a circle to achieve success , strive for the goals that we have outlined for ourselves, burning out again and again and fearing only that this wheel will someday stop.
Where will we come when the world finally adapts to us, becomes a world of absolute abundance and security? Die out like rats in a tank? Exterminate each other? Will we find new ways?
Or will a world of total abundance never come, because it is incompatible with human nature?
I dont know. I don’t know yet. Maybe, you know?