Envy and the absence of one's own opinion are the result of a neurophysiological anomaly
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Envy, lack of one's own opinion and generally strong dependence on society can be a consequence of a neurophysiological anomaly.
If you are enviable, it is not necessarily because the other was more fortunate. Just in your brain, some brain regions interact too much.
Every child knows: the best toy is the one that got to your neighbor. This is probably one of the few universal features of the human psyche: adults, like children, are convinced that the best always belongs to another. The neighbor and the cow are healthier, and the car is better, and the wife is prettier. The French philosopher René Girard has built on this a whole culturological theory, according to which the "mimetic desire" drives man's development. Envy and jealousy are only some, and 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 is tied to the desire to have what the other has.
French researchers from the INSERM institute decided to find out whether there exist neurophysiological mechanisms that would confirm this theory and explain the general tendency to envy. A group of volunteers showed two videos: in one you could see a candy lying on the table, in the other - someone's hand chose one of several colorful candies. Then the audience was asked what kind of candy they would like to receive. As expected, the most popular was the one that the person selected on the video.
But at the same time, researchers using fMRI observed the work of the brain of the participants in the experiment. First, scientists noted the increased activity of mirror neurons in the parietal lobe and in the premotor cortex. Secondly, a strong response demonstrated the areas of the striatum and the prefrontal cortex, designed to decide whether it is worthwhile to spend attention and effort on this or that object. The system of mirror neurons is included when the individual has to be repeated, "reflect" something; it is believed that the teaching of languages just happens with the most active participation of the mirror system. Immediately it turned out that the neural mirror is closely related to the evaluation system. That is, mirror neurons induce "value" neurons to evaluate what a person sees around them. It should be remembered that the work of the brain "mirror" is connected precisely with repetition, imitation of signals, gestures, sounds, etc.
According to scientists, the stronger these two brain systems are related to each other, the more people are dependent on the external pattern for behavior. That is, the sooner he chooses exactly the candy that the person preferred to videotape. Everyone must have had to face a person who does not have his own opinion, which would change it depending on what he heard from a particular interlocutor. Well, the lack of an opinion, obviously, does not always indicate a coward or an absolute sycophant: maybe such a person just does not have everything in order with his head? ..
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