4 ms·

I suspect the reason they felt better and more vital is that the change of mindset and environment altered their biochemistry. How we feel and what we think of

I suspect the reason they felt better and more vital is that the change of mindset and environment altered their biochemistry. How we feel and what we think of ourselves affects our levels of Testosterone, Cortisol, Serotonin, etc. Even a 5 minute conversation can give you a T boost of 30%+ ... or believing that you're perceived as high status alters your Serotonin. Those hormones in turn make you more vital. So who knows what was the reason... maybe more social interaction with strangers? Or simply putting their mind into a different, better place? http://www.ulm.edu/~palmer/TheBiochemistryofStatusandtheFunctionofMoodStates.htm http://www.ulm.edu/~palmer/TheBiochemistryofStatusandtheFunc... http://www.cep.ucsb.edu/topics/courtship/roney%20et%20al_2009_proceedings%20b.pdf http://www.cep.ucsb.edu/topics/courtship/roney%20et%20al_200...

astrobe_ 9y ago
> Even a 5 minute conversation can give you a T boost of 30% How is it different from taking drugs, really?
- michalu 9y ago
  Not sure I understand what you mean. What kind of drugs?
  - astrobe_ 9y ago
    What is the difference between taking artificial mood altering-drugs versus engaging in behaviours that result in the production of "natural" mood-altering drugs?
    - Bakary 9y ago
      From this literal definition the entirety of our lives could be defined as simply "taking drugs". We chase the high by doing various things. The difference between taking drugs and doing these things is that the reward mechanism is the product of many years of evolution, whereas drugs can sometimes produce harmful side effects due to not being fully fine tuned to our own bodies' expectations. The distinction would go away entirely if drugs were more sophisticated. But in that case it would pretty much be the end of life as we've hitherto experienced it.
      - RangerScience 9y ago
        I don't think you're quite correct. I think it's more that experiences as "full-spectrum" - they're occurring within multiple modes - while (most) drugs are single-spectrum. Which makes sense, most drugs are only trying to affect one thing - that's the goal. If I jump out a plane, there' a lot more going on than the adrenaline spike. If I take an epipen, there's not much more going on than the adrenaline spike.
- marcell 9y ago
  The boost in testosterone may be one of a frozen naturally occurring reactions that have some interaction. Conversely, taking a testosterone injection is isolated, so it may have different effects on your body.
chiefalchemist 9y ago
I think you're right. Which is actually better news since now the "solution" boils down to "Be mindful of your environment." That is, try to avoid stress, bullshit people, bad food, bad stimuli (i.e., yesterday's TV is not today's mass+social media), etc.
- michalu 9y ago
  Well, there's way more to it... even our body posture affects our biochemistry and well being... there's this great video by Amy Cuddy: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shape... Today, because of electronics we're forced into low power body postures that increase cortisol and lower testosterone levels, evidence suggests. Then there's nutrition, sleep etc. Couple days ago there's was a study posted here showing that people who exercise intensely are about 9 years biologically younger. We don't exactly know how exercise makes you younger but we do know it boosts your testosterone. Btw. a great book on the topic: Winner Effect by Ian Robertson (founding Director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience) or Presence by Amy Cuddy
  - 0xcde4c3db 9y ago
    Cuddy's work on "power poses" has failed to replicate in larger and more rigorous studies [1] [2], and one of the earlier researchers of such effects considers them to have been an artifact of poor study design and analysis rather than a real effect [3]. [1] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614553946 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614553946 [2] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550616652209 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550616652209 [3] http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dana_carney/pdf_My%20position%20on%20power%20poses.pdf http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dana_carney/pdf_My%20positi...
    - chiefalchemist 9y ago
      More bad science? Say it isn't so :) A couple weeks ago the BBC did an article on the fact that most "scientific" studies can't be reproduced by others. Makes ya wonder...

astrobe_ 9y ago

> Even a 5 minute conversation can give you a T boost of 30% How is it different from taking drugs, really?

michalu 9y ago
Not sure I understand what you mean. What kind of drugs?
- astrobe_ 9y ago
  What is the difference between taking artificial mood altering-drugs versus engaging in behaviours that result in the production of "natural" mood-altering drugs?
  - Bakary 9y ago
    From this literal definition the entirety of our lives could be defined as simply "taking drugs". We chase the high by doing various things. The difference between taking drugs and doing these things is that the reward mechanism is the product of many years of evolution, whereas drugs can sometimes produce harmful side effects due to not being fully fine tuned to our own bodies' expectations. The distinction would go away entirely if drugs were more sophisticated. But in that case it would pretty much be the end of life as we've hitherto experienced it.
    - RangerScience 9y ago
      I don't think you're quite correct. I think it's more that experiences as "full-spectrum" - they're occurring within multiple modes - while (most) drugs are single-spectrum. Which makes sense, most drugs are only trying to affect one thing - that's the goal. If I jump out a plane, there' a lot more going on than the adrenaline spike. If I take an epipen, there's not much more going on than the adrenaline spike.
marcell 9y ago
The boost in testosterone may be one of a frozen naturally occurring reactions that have some interaction. Conversely, taking a testosterone injection is isolated, so it may have different effects on your body.

chiefalchemist 9y ago

I think you're right. Which is actually better news since now the "solution" boils down to "Be mindful of your environment." That is, try to avoid stress, bullshit people, bad food, bad stimuli (i.e., yesterday's TV is not today's mass+social media), etc.

michalu 9y ago
Well, there's way more to it... even our body posture affects our biochemistry and well being... there's this great video by Amy Cuddy: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shape... Today, because of electronics we're forced into low power body postures that increase cortisol and lower testosterone levels, evidence suggests. Then there's nutrition, sleep etc. Couple days ago there's was a study posted here showing that people who exercise intensely are about 9 years biologically younger. We don't exactly know how exercise makes you younger but we do know it boosts your testosterone. Btw. a great book on the topic: Winner Effect by Ian Robertson (founding Director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience) or Presence by Amy Cuddy
- 0xcde4c3db 9y ago
  Cuddy's work on "power poses" has failed to replicate in larger and more rigorous studies [1] [2], and one of the earlier researchers of such effects considers them to have been an artifact of poor study design and analysis rather than a real effect [3]. [1] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614553946 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797614553946 [2] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550616652209 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550616652209 [3] http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dana_carney/pdf_My%20position%20on%20power%20poses.pdf http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/dana_carney/pdf_My%20positi...
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    More bad science? Say it isn't so :) A couple weeks ago the BBC did an article on the fact that most "scientific" studies can't be reproduced by others. Makes ya wonder...