Another blog carried over from the old website, written in early 2020, exploring and explaining physiological underpinnings of our worst and best self…
The basic purpose of your immune system is to fight. Fight pathogens, poisons, and things that you don’t want in your body.
To perform this key purpose it must differentiate between self and non-self. The self is safe. The non-self, ‘the other’, is a potential threat. It’s a complex system to say the least. The extended immune function even includes emotions such as disgust.
Expressing disgust is actually an unconscious physiological response. It creates nausea, sometimes vomiting, whilst also increasing disease fighting secretions in your mouth and upper respiratory tract. Your disgust sensitivity will even be heightened during immuno-compromised circumstances. Helpful during times of disease.
The physiology of disgust is also linked with many phobias and behaviour such as OCD. Unfortunately the disgust response includes a powerful psychological mechanism that increases our tendency to polarise between ‘us and them’, the in-group versus the out-group.
Feelings of disgust can lead to our strongest tendencies towards arbitrary dehumanising of other people as out-groups.
Historically our disgust response has even been manipulated by political leaders to usher in cruel totalitarian regimes. Get the population sufficiently disgusted and their unconscious ‘self versus non-self’ extended immune function will do the dirty work. Those fights over toilet paper during the pandemic suddenly begin to make unnerving sense.
So how do we override an unconscious physiological survival mechanism that plays on our worst inclinations? Simple, this mechanism can only have a hold of you when you feel dis-empowered .
Think back to the countless acts of nobility observed during our last round of bushfires. We were going out of our way to help the vulnerable and those in need. By behaving in a prudent, proactive and kind manner we automatically shift our perspective to view life though the lens of empowerment. We meet with our better selves. …The very best of our selves.
Be, like, that…
Prudent, proactive, and empowered through kindness. May no one ever become untouchable.
With Love,
Andrew.