(dr) Luo Pin Xi / WPA
Why are some people attracted to exploration and challenge – even to the point of extreme danger? A new book unravel the reasons.
Alex Hutchinsonjournalist, author and athlete wrote a book – The Explorer’s Gene: Why we seek big challenges, new flavors, and the blank spots on the map (Why we look for great challenges, new flavors and the blank points on the map) – where puts the question and presents answers.
According to the writer, the writer says that, in relatively short time, humans have reached more or less “all the habitable corners of the planet. Even today, today, We test, we accept ambitious challenges and look for new waysWhether it is in a risky walk or a dangerous migration. ”
The question that Hutchinson raises in his book is “why?” It is not as simple as saying that humans are programmed for adventure, when many are very happy and homemade people.
Exploration implies effort, uncertain reward and the failureif not even a real danger. “Why would we be subject to this?”
Hutchinson brings his professional and personal experience to answer this question. Formation physicist, was a half -distance corridor (including in the Canada National team) before dedicating herself to journalism.
Your book Endure it was one bestseller from New York Times and made it in “Human resistance science man”Before you look again for new horizons.
The Explorer’s Gene has a lot of research, citing a wide range of studies – some published last year – that clarify the reason why some people are brought to search the adventure while others content with their comfort zone.
There is no doubt as to the field to which Hutchinson belongs to. The book begins with the author to make an arduous walk of several days by the wild nature of the new land and uses stories of his traveler’s past to substantiate his discussion.
To make sense of this research impetus, Hutchinson resorts to disciplines as diverse as the roboticsa economya science sport and mythologyand even abstract concepts are communicated and relevant.
The Explorer’s Gene reflects a deep curiosity and the desire to make sense of what could be seen as a reckless or even meaningless adventure such as polar exploration or transatlantic crossings.
The title refers to GeneDrd4 what encodes a dopamine receiver in the brain and is associated with News search behavior e to Phda.
It looks revealingwrites Hutchinson, that the variant of the new demand gene is more prevalent in node populations and first emerged About 45,000 years ago – “Precisely when humans started to conquer the globe.”
Mass genetics is just a part of history. Exploration was shaped by external factors, such as the technology (which made it more possible and often less risky) and the climate (which boosted population agitation globally). Then there are rewardsas the possibility of a new life or glory of being the first.
This Headquarters and unknown It can also manifest in other ways. Although few of us volunteered for a trip to Mars only or ventured into nature, as Hutchinson recognizes, it does not mean staying in our comfort zone forever.
As the author finds out through his orientation experience, the Benefits of Neuroplasticity and from simultaneous involvement of the body e brain They support the idea of extending ourselves. Play, for example, is often neglected in adulthood, but can help us develop a risk tolerance or a perspective that pays off in other situations.
In the last chapters of his book, Hutchinson argues that the many forms how today’s life leads us to be passive – how to blindly follow the nominations of our mobile phone – are sabotage depth and quality of our experience.
Although nthere is a unique explanation for human exploitationthe search for news and the persecution of challenges, the physical and cognitive effort involved is satisfactory and the risk of failure makes our successes so rewarding.
Teresa Oliveira Campos, Zap //
