I, Mammal: How to Make Peace With the Animal Urge for Social Power
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I, Mammal: How to Make Peace With the Animal Urge for Social Power
High-status animals get better mating opportunity and foraging spots. We have inherited a brain that rewards you with the good feeling of serotonin when you get respect. But the serotonin is soon metabolized so your brain is always looking for ways to get more. You can avoid "junk status" and trigger more serotonin when you understand your inner mammal. A biology textbook is eerily similar to a soap opera script. The field notes of a primatologist sound like the lyrics to a country western song. We mammals seek social importance because it stimulates the great feeling of serotonin. Our appetite for status is as natural as our appetite for food and sex. You may say you’re “against status,†but if you filled a room with people who said that, a status hierarchy would soon form based on how hard each person insists. That’s what mammals do. When your status urge is disappointed, it feels like a survival threat to your mammal brain. You would never think this in words, but the mammal brain works with neurochemicals instead of words. Your neurochemical ups and downs make sense when you know how status promotes survival in the animal world. Nothing is wrong with us. We are mammals. We work hard to restrain these urges, and we can celebrate how well we do with the mental equipment we’ve got instead of focusing on our flaws. Mammals live in groups for protection from predators, but group life can be frustrating. Some herd mates always seem to get better mating opportunities and foraging spots. Fortunately, the mammal brain evolved to handle this. It releases stress chemicals when a mammal needs to hold back to avoid conflict. And it releases serotonin when a mammal sees a way to forge ahead and meet its needs. We can finally make sense of our hybrid brain thanks to an accumulation of research in animal science and neuroscience. You can wire yourself to enjoy the good feeling of social dominance without being a “jerk.†When you understand your inner mammal, you can trigger serotonin without endless status frustrations. This book helps you retrain your brain to feel good about your social position without being a prisoner of “junk status.†What a relief!