We, humans, are more alike than we think, more than we can imagine.

Surprising, isn’t it?

While we all think we’re so different, we’ll be surprised with the info that we’re not.

But how’s that even possible?

To begin with, the differences are just really minor differences such as the countries we come from, the languages we talk, or our physical features.

But boil it down to beliefs, and cultures, dig deep down and we’re still more alike than different.

WHAT’S INSIDE US

We all have the same basic biology, regardless of color or gender, we’re all exactly the same inside.

The stress hormone systems that we have are all exactly the same and work the same. So really, we could all look so differently outside but looking deeper, we’re not.

HUMANS ARE HERD ANIMALS

Do you know that a person can change so much in an instant?

It’s true. Observe someone you know, and focus on how that person interacts with different types of groups, does that person act all the same?

I know a lot of people, who have different groups of people, and in one group they are quiet and more preserved because that’s the way their group works, and in the other, they’d be super energetic, doing whatever. 

It’s like seeing a person with different versions, and the version depends on the crowd they are with.

Why? Because we all have our basic parrot padding and we mimic the ones we have around us. We are herd animals and we want to be like the rest of the group because that is how we are trained, how we’re taught.

Remember your childhood? You were taught to act like the adults around you. 

Well, we still do that now, unconsciously, we tend to act like those who are around us.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND HUMANS

Biology is universal by logic. We were only brought up differently from childhood but in reality, we haven’t changed in 200,000 years, why would we change in a lifetime that we don’t?

“No, we are all still different, my belief is different from theirs, from yours.”

I know, that’s how it is and I’ve nothing against that. To each his own, right?

What I’m only saying is…

A belief is a choice, and at any second of the day, we can choose something different, we can change what we believe in.

If you choose to believe in something negative in the morning, you can just quickly change that and choose to believe in something positive in the afternoon.

WE HAD NO CHOICE when we were kids – that is the time in our lives when we are shaped in so many ways

TAKE LANGUAGE FOR EXAMPLE

I have always been amazed by the fact that children in other countries speak THEIR language fluently when I know how hard it is to learn a second language.

Of course, they did not speak Swedish but I did not reflect on it that way when I was younger.

Today I know that a healthy child just HAS TO learn the language spoken around them when they are babies.

That is how our biology works – they just do learn in the first couple of years – they have no stop mechanism for that.

Imagine what that means! What if I in Sweden gave birth to 5 babies – and they stayed with me they would all speak Swedish when they grew up? If the father in my family would be native English speaking, the children would be bi-lingual – not by choice but by rule. And they would have adopted the Swedish English traditions that we feed them with.

AND if we had sent those 5 babies away right after birth to 5 different continents, with totally different languages and traditions they would have no knowledge of Swedish or English and they would have totally different basic traditions in their way of living.

And if these 5 persons met in later years – they would look alike but have no common language.

Get the idea?

WE WEREN’T GIVEN MANY CHOICES, WE WERE MOLDED

What did I want to say with this: We weren’t really given much choice and we were raised and molded instead by people around us when we were kids.

But now, WE CAN CHOOSE WHO WE WANT TO BE, WE CAN EVEN CHOOSE WHO WE SURROUND OURSELVES WITH.

YOU YESTERDAY, OR YOU TODAY?

Do you want to be that person from yesterday or start finding the real you today?

No matter what, remember that despite the tiny differences we have, WE ARE MUCH MORE ALIKE.

So, be kind to one another and treat everyone with respect.

HUMANS ALIKE, THE SAME STRESS SYSTEM

Regardless of the minor differences…We all have the same stress system that steers our basic behavior.

Biology needs us to be like herd animals to survive – that makes us look for people who are alike – because with similar people we feel safer. And when we are alike we reassure each other with what we do and we do the same. 

This ends up in groups that will do good and also in groups that will do bad. 

Since we encourage each other in a group to do the same – by those biological laws – a group that is hostile towards others can do a lot of harm – to be accepted in the group.

WHAT WE LONG FOR

As individuals we long for appreciation, to be seen – it is a basic need to survive. First of all, appreciation of who we are, just as that. 

If we don’t get that appreciation, we search for appreciation for what we do – good things, hard work, good grades, work, etc. because we want and need to be seen.

If that doesn’t work either – then we start doing bad things – just to be seen. And if necessary we do really bad things to reach the goal. Or it might end up in suicide – that is how strong this drive is.

And this basic personal need is then put into the group mechanism and we have all these tragic things going on and all the hatred towards others – just because it works this way

And all we wanted was to be seen…

WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BRAIN WHEN STRESSED

One can say we have 3 layers in our brain system: The Reptile Brain, the Limbic System, and the Logical Brain.

The Reptile Brain stands for our automatically regulated functions – like keeping blood sugar levels right, temperature, hunger, and that heart beating – all basic functions that we cannot control with our will. It works on instinct – and when it is in charge we don’t think clearly or reflect – we just do.

The Limbic System is where our center for feelings is (aka the mammal brain). This is where our behavior is steered by feelings – like if you feel sad you feel an urge for comfort food and think of going to get some sweets or so. You do things to lessen the bad or sad feelings and it can make you do dumb things just to silence your feelings.

The Logical Brain is the one we use for all thinking, with a will, cognition, memory, processing of sensory input, and abstractions, but what’s interesting is the logical brain can quickly throw us into our mammal or reptile brains.

For example, if we read a scary part in that book it might throw us back into the mammal brain to seek comfort, go eat something for example,  or it might throw us all the way into the reptile brain where we have the feeling of fear.

It is within these layers of our brain that we live and the more insecure you are the more likely it is that you are in the inner two layers – bouncing between feelings and instinct action – and this is not the place where we feel happiness or health or wealth.

Our logical brain requires a lot of energy and when we are stressed it’s the first part to shut down, which means that it turns into the mammal brain by automation and that deprives us of making conscious decisions and makes us more prone to follow old set biological programs that were installed in us in our childhood as I talked about earlier.

If we go on with the stress, we will go into the brain fog and it stops working – we then just work on instinct – we have hit the stress wall.

So, now that you can see how simple our basic biology is and still how extremely hard it is to navigate all these laws to stay healthy, less stressed, and be able to look at all other creatures = people whatever different they look like – and accept them as equal.

I’ll repeat again – 

Be kind to one another and treat everyone with respect. And since all we want is to be seen… show appreciation to everyone around you.

Here’s access to a more step-by-step guide on self-development: Access Here!

To your success and keep smiling,

Dr.-Annika