Wesley Danes
1 min readJan 31, 2020

--

Thank you for your article. I agree with most of it. Sadly the lobster-part isn’t correct. Well, it is correct that Jordan Peterson mentions it, but serotonin plays different roles and can even have opposite effects in animals (like for example lobsters and humans)

from an article in The Conversation

“While lower levels of serotonin are associated with decreased levels of aggression in vertebrates like the lobster, the opposite is true in humans. This happens because low levels of serotonin in the brain make communication between the amygdala and the frontal lobes weaker, making it more difficult to control emotional responses to anger.
So not only does it seem unlikely that low levels of serotonin would make humans settle in at the bottom of a hierarchy, it goes to show that lobsters and humans are just not a great comparison.”

In the end, I think it’s all about balance. For example this research
Individuals with social phobia have too much serotonin — not too little shows that too much serotonin isn’t to good either.

I think there is also a social aspect to it. Sometimes, you can let others win. And of course winning doesn’t have to mean that it has to be at the cost of someone else. Letting others win, and winning for unselfish reasons are just as important. And in this case the hormone oxytocin is released. But too much of that one, creates an individual who probably doesn’t really care as long as it feels good. So again, balance is the key.

--

--

Wesley Danes
Wesley Danes

Written by Wesley Danes

Ultrarunner, holder of multiple personal records, servant to dogs, holder of a BA in Philosophy of Science, liker of trees, writer of words.

No responses yet