A skittish fish can transmit misinformation to a group of fish and threaten their survival by moving them away from food sources. Evolution promoted defenses against misinformation with variations in perceptual sensitivity. Fish in small groups are more responsive to a reactive colleague and will eventually die out if they keep missing eating. In large groups, however, fish change perceptual sensitivity and become less responsive, needing a large group of ‘reactors’ to get them to move away from food. Hence, large schools of fish are more adaptive (survive across generations in comparison to alternative mutations).
Skittish humans also transmit misinformation.
How does a human become “skittish”? Threat-reactive brains are formed from trauma-inducing experiences during early life (conception through age 6 years or so), such as mother’s social or nutritional or toxin stress during pregnancy, traumatizing experiences at birth and after when expected evolved nestedness is replaced with physical isolation, pain, and undercare. (Threat reactivity can also come about from trauma-inducing experiences later, resulting in PTSD.)
Although some like to blame evolution for creating humanity’s threat-reactive brains, it’s the evolution-violating, unsupportive community that fosters them. The disrespect of mothers and babies leads to their mistreatment, undermining nurturing and the development of health and wellbeing, cascading across generations.
Skittish or threat-reactive people become desensitized, only partially perceiving their environments. Threat reactivity narrows vision, affordances (action possibilities), and makes one attracted to rhetoric that seems protective.
General threat reactivity is inflammatory and mind numbing. Threat reactivity makes one so generally fearful and worn out that one is more likely to give over personal sovereignty to a perceived trusted authority. The authority’s guidance is a relief from decision making that an overwhelmed system cannot handle. One abdicates responsibility for personal action, taking the authority’s word as truth and their commands as appropriate. (“I was just following orders.”)
The USA is now full of fearful, threat reactive people who, unhealed, misperceive reality and give over their sovereignty to authorities who claim to be increasing safety. But many authorities in charge today are threat-reactive themselves. They are the skittish fish leading the group away from health-promoting actions.
Unfortunately, it’s not just one group of humans being led towards death. The whole planet will be affected.
