It's Stressful Being Intelligent!

I’m sure that the majority of us have wondered what it’s like to be a dog. They have a balanced life of exercise, fun, and rest. Though dogs are smart, Sapolsky states that intellectual capacity is positively correlated with the amount of stressors (“Why do humans,” 2007; Sapolsky, 2007). So, it’s either live a relaxed and unattached life with minimal stressors, or be intelligent, emotionally connected, and possibly develop high blood pressure, gastrointestinal diseases, and diabetes from stress (“Why do humans,” 2007). Great.

Stress hormones are apart of the evolutionarily ancient stress response that are excreted in humans, as well as a variety of other animals such as fish, birds, and reptiles. These glucocorticoids are well adapted to alter our bodily systems in order to raise our chances of survival; they mobilize energy to your thighs, increase blood pressure, and turn off digestion, growth, and reproduction (“Why do humans,” 2007). However, these brilliantly adapted hormones are not well adapted for chronic psychosocial stress that more intellectual animals experience such as elephants, whales, and baboons (“Why do humans,” 2007). According to Wemmer and Christen, elephants experience stress, pain, and suffering just like humans (2008). You simply don’t see depression and other stress related disorders in fish and reptiles because they are not emotionally complex like the animals with higher levels of intelligence. Wonderful. So the reward for our survival is depression?

Sapolsky states that Baboon’s only concern is getting enough calories during the day (2007). As a college student living in America, I don’t even have to worry about that! Because we have nothing else to worry about, baboons and humans extend our emotions and find other things to worry about (whether I will finish this blog on time, children in Africa, the effects of global warming in the next 10 years, whether I will have a job when I graduate, etc).

But there’s hope! We could put our well earned intelligence to good use if we apply Sapolsky’s baboon research to our lives. Sapolsky states that social connectedness is highly correlated with the level of stress that baboons and humans experience (“Why do humans,” 2007; Sapolsky, 2007). Low-ranking baboons have a higher prevalence of stress related diseases because they are socially isolated and are constantly surrounded by higher ranking baboons. However, humans have more social flexibility than baboons (“Why do humans,” 2007; Sapolsky, 2007). Though we may be “low-ranking” in our family, we have the opportunity to be “high-ranking” in other aspects of life such as school, church, and athletics.

Looking back on my question that I asked my grandparents, I understand why they would want to be a dog. But, a dog’s intellectual capacity does not enable them to overcome their “hierarchy” if they are placed in a shelter or an abusive household. Humans are capable of overcoming stressful barriers by becoming more socially connected, active, and aware of the stressors in our lives.

Why do humans and primates get more stress-related diseases than other animals?. (2007, February 25). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218134333.htm

Wemmer, C., & Christen, C. A. (2008). Elephants and ethics: Toward a morality of coexistence. Baltimore, MD US: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Sapolsky, R. M. (2007). Why zebras don't get ulcers. (3 ed.).