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Envy and lack of opinion is a consequence of a neurophysiological abnormality
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Envy, lack of one's own opinion and, in general, a strong dependence on society can be a consequence of a neurophysiological anomaly.
If you are jealous, it is not necessarily because someone else is luckier. It is simply that some areas of your brain interact too strongly.
Every child knows: the best toy is the one your neighbor got. This is probably one of the few universal traits of the human psyche: adults, like children, are convinced that the best always belongs to someone else. The neighbor has a healthier cow, a better car, and a more beautiful wife. The French philosopher René Girard built an entire cultural theory on this, according to which human development is driven by “mimetic desire.” Envy and jealousy are just some, and the most obvious, of the incarnations of this phenomenon. We choose the same food as others, the same clothes as others, and a huge share of advertising tricks are tied to the desire to have what someone else has.
French researchers from the INSERM institute decided to find out whether there are neurophysiological mechanisms that would confirm this theory and explain the widespread tendency towards envy. A group of volunteers were shown two videos: in one, they could see a candy lying on a table, in the other, someone's hand was choosing one of several multi-colored candies. Then the viewers were asked which candy they themselves would like to receive. As expected, the one chosen by the person in the video was the most popular.
But at the same time, the researchers used fMRI to monitor the brain activity of the experiment participants. First, the scientists noted increased activity of mirror neurons in the parietal lobe and premotor cortex. Second, a strong response was demonstrated by the areas of the striatum and prefrontal cortex, which are called upon to decide whether to spend attention and energy on a particular object. The mirror neuron system is activated when an individual needs to repeat, “reflect” something; it is believed that language learning occurs with the most active participation of the mirror system. It immediately turned out that the neural mirror is closely connected with the evaluation system. That is, mirror neurons prompt “value” neurons to evaluate what a person sees around them. It is important to remember that the work of the brain “mirror” is connected precisely with repetition, imitation of signals, gestures, sounds, etc.
According to scientists, the more these two brain systems are connected to each other, the more a person is dependent on an external model for behavior. That is, the more likely he will choose the candy that the person on the video preferred. Everyone must have encountered a person who has no opinion of his own, who would change it depending on what he heard from a specific interlocutor. Well, the absence of an opinion, obviously, does not always indicate a coward or an absolute sycophant: maybe such a person is simply not all right in the head?..
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