#318 Trusting Ourselves, Others & Life Itself - Taming our Inner Reptile

     Aversive events apparently have 7 times greater impact than positive events. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: not remembering to avoid a dangerous situation is potentially lethal; whereas forgetting to recognize a positive cue has less severe consequences eg missing a meal. So some fear, wariness, and avoidance is naturally, very common, with survival benefits in hostile environments. Deer easily get spooked and run.
     On the other hand, trust and cooperation is essential in collaborative groups, where these provide greater survival benefits than avoidance. All living creatures seem to require a prolonged, stable, pleasant atmosphere, for trust seems to develop slowly. Aversive events easily disrupt a trusting, cooperative atmosphere.
     In our increasingly integrated, interactive, interdependent world, there's a distinctive advantage for individuals, as well as for human beings as a whole, for the entire ecosystem really, to trust in and contribute to our common welfare.
     Each of us can, and indeed need to contribute to this joint evolutionary venture, first and foremost by intentionally taming our wild inner reptile.

clal   www.dpreview.com