By Donald Norfolk

One thing above all else raises us above the ‘lower’ animals. We have the ability to contemplate the future, and imagine the wonderful things we can accomplish if we set a target and work consistently toward that end. They, with their limited mental faculties, can only live in the ‘here and now.’ They have no concept of ‘deferred gratification.’ Pigeons can be trained to resist an immediate food reward if they know they’ll get a bigger and tastier prize a short while after, but they’ll wait no more than a few seconds. Monkeys can hold back for a minute or two, while bigger brained apes have the self control to wait twenty minutes or longer. Humans, with their highly developed cerebral hemispheres, can do even better. If they’re so inclined, they can choose to go on a forty day fast to purify their souls, or risk premature death by following a protracted hunger strike. This faculty of self-determination raises us way above our fellow creatures.

But there’s another brain function which nullifies that power. This we share with all other animals. Deep in the limbic system of our brain there’s a primordial ‘pleasure centre’ which is activated when we have sex, eat or take psychedelic drugs. When electrodes are placed in this area, attached to an on-off lever, animals will give up everything else and frantically press the lever to get an ecstatic high. This is the root cause of addictive behaviour. The alcoholic buys oblivion today for the price of liver cirrhosis tomorrow. To get a short term rush of adrenaline, the gambler gives no thought for the poverty he’ll suffer when his luck runs out. Read the rest of this entry »