Like our DNA, behavior works in a
series of binary switches. What I mean
by this is that there are several areas (binary pairings) that control EVERY
behavior we have, and these are set up very much like switches in that a
behavioral pairing with be On/On, On/Off, Off/On, or Off/Off. Unlike simple switches however, the behavior
pairings are sliding scales that work interdependently, and while they control
different things, they cannot function alone.
The most well known is a life
scale that moves between survival mode and thriving mode
SURVIVAL ß à
THRIVING
All beings are working toward the
goal of thriving; mere survival is simply not enough. We don’t want to just have enough food to
stay alive; we want enough food to be healthy.
We don’t want just one type of food; we want variety, and not just for
health, but to enjoy the different flavors.
We want to thrive. When we
experience the On/On position, we experience both survival and thriving
simultaneously. This can happen when we
ride a roller coaster. We experience the
adrenaline rush of survival, but do it intentionally so that we can have a
thrill, and feel “more alive” – thus we are also in thriving mode. In the Off/On position survival mode would be
turned off, and thriving mode would be turned on. This is experienced when we eat dessert. Our survival does not require dessert; we eat
this for pleasure, in order to thrive. In
the On/Off position survival mode would be turned on, and thriving mode would
be turned off. This is what happens if
we are confronted with an immediate life-threatening situation. There is also Off/Off where neither mode is
on, which in this case indicates that the life has ceased to function.
In order to ensure survival or
thriving, living beings will either repel that which is detrimental to them, or
work to attract and keep what is beneficial to them. This
is the next life scale.
REPULSION ß à
ATTRACTION
In this scale in the On/On
position might look like needing to eat in order to survive, but only having a
food available that is detested (you will both want to repel and attract it). In the Off/On position repulsion would be
turned off, and attraction would be turned on, meaning you would move toward,
away, or be still in order to attract the thing desired: another being, food,
object, heat, light, etc. In the On/Off
position repulsion would be turned on, and attraction would be turned off,
meaning you would move toward, away, or be still in order to repel the thing
that is unwanted: spider, clown, heat, germ, etc. In the Off/Off neither repulsion, nor
attraction is on, which indicates that there is a neutral feeling (or lack of
awareness) about something, such as walking by one more ordinary rock among
thousands.
When experiencing repulsion and
attraction in survival mode, they become the emotions of fear and love. They may also be experienced as fear and love
in thriving, but aren’t always. Since
all living beings need to survive and thrive, they all have the need to repel
or attract, which means they all feel fear and love. This is true because powerful emotions are
necessary to motivate us to take action, and weak emotions won’t.
Emotions/feelings help living
beings to know what is needed for continued survival, and thriving, and have
their own scale.
UNNOTICEABLE ß à
OVERWHELMING
In the On/On position you would
be somewhere in the middle of the scale with an emotion being both intense and
barely noticeable simultaneously, for example parents tend to love their
children rather intensely, but when they are concentrating on their work, that
emotion (while still true), is barely noticeable. In the Off/On position the emotion would be
experienced simply as intense. In the
On/Off position the emotion would not really be experienced such as being
hungry, but so busy having fun, that you really aren’t aware, or paying
attention to that fact. In Off/Off
neither mode is on, which indicates that the emotion doesn’t exist. This doesn’t mean that you don’t experience
that emotion, but that not all emotions are experienced all the time.
Emotions/feelings are necessary
for showing us what our needs are, and whether that need is fulfilled, or in a
state of lack. This means that needs
have a scale.
LACK ß à
FULFILLMENT
In the On/On position you would
be somewhere in the middle of the scale such as having the necessary amount of
food (not in lack), and wishing there were more, or some other type (not in
fulfillment). In the Off/On position
lack would be turned off, and fulfillment would be turned on; this is easily
visible when you stop eating because you are fully satiated. You have had all that you wanted, and what
you wanted. In the On/Off position lack
would be turned on, and fulfillment would be turned off; this is very similar
to survival mode, it is complete lack, it is starvation without death. In Off/Off neither mode is on, which
indicates that either there is no knowledge of the thing which could be in lack
or fulfillment, or the life form has ceased to function.
All of these scales are massively
important to every life form, and all of these scales function within the most
important scale of all, the Law of behavior.
In the On/On position the
behavior is being rewarded, and is currently happening.
In the On/Off position the reward
for the behavior is ceasing/losing power and the behavior is moving from
currently happening, to stopping.
In the Off/On position the
behavior is off, and there is a perceivable reward for the behavior that is
causing the behavior to be turned on.
In the Off/Off position there is
no perceivable reward for the behavior, and the behavior does not exist.
Now to be clear, I’m not saying that all living beings have
all emotions, nor that emotions would be experienced in the same way in every
living being. An amoeba, for example, is
a very simple life form, yet it does experience survival and thriving modes,
and therefore does need to repel and attract that which it necessary to those
modes. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had
at least rudimentary feelings of fear and love.
I am certain that the more complex the life form, the more complex, and
diverse their emotions are. This means
that insects have feelings, but not likely as many, or as complex as those of a
cat. All complex animals (cats, dogs,
badgers, dolphins, etc.) will have more complex emotions.
The complexity of emotions to a life form will be in direct
correlation to the complexity of its ability to reason, think, and comprehend. The higher the brain functions the more
complex the emotions. A goldfish for
example does not have the same complexity of emotion that a dolphin has. This doesn’t mean that a goldfish doesn’t
experience love and fear, but that its experience of those emotions is simple,
they aren’t likely to experience more complexity of emotion such as jealousy,
ennui, or guilt, any more than they are capable of having complex thoughts such
as being able to solve a simple math equation, or wondering if they would look
better in a different color.
All of this is very simple, and
yet it is EVERYTHING!
If you’d like to learn more,
please check out my book: The Zombie Handbook: The Science Of Fear And Love.
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