The Curiosity Gene: On the Origin of Humankind by Means of Intrinsic Motivation by Alexandros Kourt

Author:Alexandros Kourt [Kourt, Alexandros]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-06-27T07:00:00+00:00

Persistently recalling or "reliving" events through intrusive flashbacks.

Recurring nightmares.

Distress responses when reminders are encountered such as similar settings or surroundings.

Avoidance of circumstances that trigger recollections of traumatic events.

Hyper-vigilance.

Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep.

Irritability or outbursts of anger.

Exaggerated startle responses.

Taking each of these, in primeval times reliving events and recurring nightmares can be practical, serving as preparation for future encounters through scenario recreation, whether consciously initiated or not. Symptoms of distress responses, avoiding similar circumstances, hyper-vigilance, and difficulty sleeping, while out of place in the comfort of modernity, would allow an individual to be forewarned ahead of potential recurrences or similar threats, facilitating risk-avoidance. Only in the safety of modern settings do such symptoms equate to a medical disorder. As Ray Bradbury said, “Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage.” Indeed, an individual may be classified differently depending on their surroundings or community members. Finally, PTSD symptoms of irritability, anger, and startle responses, while shockingly irrational in modern civilization, can aid survivability in the wild through elevated energy, aggressiveness, and fast reaction times resulting in tenacious threat mitigation.[45]

In the modern age, where we are not in a constant state of exposure to the elements and enemies, the “D” in PTSD lives up to its name as being a disorder. PTSD may serve no practical purpose for a recruit returning from a tour of military duty or a trauma victim following an unfortunate but singular accident in the French Alps. For a permanent resident of the brush, however, with constant exposure to the elements, predators, and hostile neighbors, PTSD is practically PTS without the “D,” meaning posttraumatic stress, a survival asset and scarcely a disorder.

Taking this chain of thought one step further, the terminology for such a condition need not center around past trauma but rather potential future traumas. The stress is preparatory in nature. As a result, and at the risk of seeming melodramatic or frivolous, we could assign a brand new word to certain forms of this anxious condition: pretraumatic. Of course, this is not to say that posttraumatic stress does not exist. It is simply worth emphasizing that our brains are great survival tools. Victims need not remain victims given the right preparatory behavior. In a prolonged wartime environment, PTSD could have served a practical purpose through constructive anxiety: veritably representing a pretraumatic stress.

This temporal element has a familiar signature. The anxiety, like curiosity, is preparatory in nature. There is a familiar time delay between thought processes and when those thoughts may one day prove useful. The anxiety of PTSD is perhaps a throwback to the earliest, most primitive form of curiosity, an anxiety in the face of trauma geared towards preparation, whether in protection or counterattack.

Another possible remnant of a cutthroat origin of human curiosity—as well as PTSD—is the tendency of some towards fatalism, prepping, or survivalism. These are individuals who invest significant resources into actively preparing for potential but improbable emergencies. Curiosity is itself a subconscious, deeply rooted preparation. It

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