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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
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Imagine you are on vacation and find yourself running low on a few necessities. You stop by a small convenience store to stock up and are immediately faced with the usual suspects: cramped aisles lined with chips and candy, a “beer cave” in the back, an oddly placed rack of discount t-shirts…and a lottery showcase behind the counter—a veritable gambler’s paradise. Normally you wouldn’t play; today, however, you’re overcome by the urge to try your luck. But what game do you choose? Do you select among the dozen or so varieties of scratch tickets? Or do you opt for the classic pick-6 lotto?
Your decision may depend on whether you’re vacationing in Juneau, Alaska or Jupiter, Florida—and it all comes down to temperature. Recent research suggests that warm weather impairs our ability to make complex decisions—and even causes us to shy away from making these decisions in the first place.
In the sweltering heat of a Florida summer, choosing between dozens of scratch tickets may seem like an insurmountable task—and one you’d rather not make, given the alternative of a relatively simple pick-6 lotto (just grab a ticket, write down a few numbers, and you’re done). In the cooler climes of Alaska, on the other hand, your ability to make complex decisions—such as choosing your favorite scratch ticket—should be unaffected. These differences may have profound effects on your path to instant fortune. In cooler weather, you are able to weigh your options and choose the best one, no matter how cognitively complex the decision may be; in warmer weather, however, you’re more likely to take the easiest available route—in this case, the pick-6 lotto (which, in Florida, has an approximately 1 in 22,957,480 chance of winning the jackpot).
Although the idea that our decisions are swayed by the temperature of our surroundings may seem far-fetched, consider one simple fact: our brains are organs. And, just like all other organs, these decision-making centers need energy to function. Almost everything we do—whether it is a physical behavior or a mental process—uses the same energy source: glucose. We use glucose as we walk, talk, breathe, and perform other physical functions in our daily lives. We also use glucose when we perform effortful mental functions, such as making decisions, exerting self-control, suppressing emotional responses, and even answering math problems. Crucially, glucose—this fundamental source of both physical and mental energy—is a limited resource.
One of the body’s most important tasks is temperature regulation. When the ambient temperature is unusually hot (Florida) or unusually cold (Alaska), we must use energy—in the form of glucose—to maintain a healthy internal temperature; we shiver and sweat, seeking to avoid hypothermia and heat stroke. These two processes—correcting for excessive heat and unwanted cold—are not equally taxing, however; cooling the body down seems to require more energy than warming it up.
Warm temperatures, then, are more likely to deplete our resources—as our bodies work to maintain homeostasis, we use up large amounts of glucose. Because glucose is also used for mental processes, it may be that the physical demands imposed by excessive warmth reduce our capacity for cognitive functioning, thereby adversely affecting our decision-making abilities.
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17 Comments
Add CommentThat's interesting. Perhaps that is why there are more conservatives where it is hot.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article warns against making that connection but I couldn't help thinking that this explains Rick Perry.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm glad they finally got around to pointing out that this is an adaptation issue, not an inherent nature issue. It would have been a lot better (and less incendiary) if they'd made that point on the first page, rather than the first.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe other silly part of this work is that they didn't control for relative humidity. Can people think better if they can control their body heat through sweating, and do they have problems when they cannot due to humidity? How fast do people's mental abilities change as they acclimate, and how fast do they lose acclimation? These are rather more interesting questions.
So, put on a hat, and drink something sweet, perhaps also with caffeine
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have suffered from debilitating pressure headaches all my life and when I can think clearly it seems that 24-36 hours before a weather change occurs I get a pressure head ache.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCan anybody help ?
I'm certainly not a doctor, but I suggest you ask your doctor about having an MRI brain scan. Fluid within the braincase may be affected by barometric pressure, for example...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou might be on to something there. Prior to the advent of air conditioning beginning in the 1950s, hot and especially humid conditions made all physical activity very difficult. This had many very real social repercussions - I think including a general reluctance to start new projects, for example...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYes I've had them all. With negative results. Maybe it is time to have them again.
I love the out of the box thinking! Great speculative thought on how the brain energy balance works; and much can be derived through an understanding of Physiological Homeostasis with regard to glucose. However, the most recent research indicates that the brain burns lactose when under stress (anxiety, physical exertion and temperature extremes) and not entirely glucose. This could be a missing factor in why epidemiological studies do not confirm the classic 70 year old wisdom on energy burn, brain caloric burn, heat, blood sugar, stress, weight and exercise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe have a LONG way to go before we can have sufficient confidence on extrapolative speculation in this arena; and we must be careful because moralist will use prima facia speculation as a basis from which to wag their finger at people who suffer from diabetes or heart disease - and block the science in and around those subjects as being unnecessary. Moreover we are a long way from actually being able to help the skyrocketing group which suffers glucose/endocrine damage from current causes which are not well understood.
But let's keep it up!! I like it.
That's a very interesting thesis worthy of more scientific research.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGee, CA is a lot warmer than most of the Midwest right now. And government seems to be more active in the winter than the summer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo I'd say this is a great argument for why CA has such an idiotic gov't.
Perhaps that's why you didn't read the entire article and posted anyway, based on your own bigotry and that of those around you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA diet change can be of great assistance: eating raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables automatically lowers the blood pressure, whereas any processed, 'man-made' food intake increases it. Cutting out artificial additives, especially salt and caffeine, works wonders for capillaries!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthe reason WHY raw plant foods are so good? It's elementary: our DNA evolved on an ape's alimentary nutrition scheme...
I think the explanation why we find it so
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdifficult to function mentally well under extreme weather conditions can clearly be found in our origins: After all, our genomes came out of equatorial African highlands! I happened to sample the wonderful climate in Uganda, forty years ago, with its natural air'conditioning', indeed our 'ideal' climate, all the year round , in the same temperature range, between about 23 and 27 degrees Celsius, and never too humid- because of its altitude; in fact, our original Paradise- -on- Earth climate.
But 'we' made the tree change, took the risk, survived the Ice Ages , and, wow, we came out of them with bigger & better brains having got us into this 'Global Warming' mess..
Here in Perth / Western Australia, we are currently breaking all weather records, with dry heat waves of 40-plus degrees for weeks on end, and if it was not for the sanctuary of the Indian Ocean right on our doorstep, with its divine 23 degrees Celsius, it would be unlivable; but even the Indian Ocean temperatures have increased in these past few years,by between two and four degrees, in the North West, with see weeds found dying, and sharks and whales shifting their habitats...
So much for talking about the weather! Political correctness ain't what it used to be either.
Tony,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the weather change that you are talking about involves a change in barometric pressure you may be suffering from blocked eustachian tubes or sinuses. Not being able to equalize pressure can lead to a headache. You can get this checked out by a doctor.
Our ancetors functioned well enough to run big game into heat exhaustion on the hot African savanna. But men were men then. They didn't pamper themselves with air conditioning and they didn't feel entitled to the world on a silver platter.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt appears someone is merely trying to fill their quota in the "publish or perish" business. A small amount of stress excites the body and revs the engine. A large stress overwhelms the body, so neither approach offered would be effective. If you want to hammer out the
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"next big thing," get your lazy butt out of bed on a cool, crisp day as the sun first rises over the horizon.