When Humans Trade Domination for Education
Human domination over other life forms is woven into the traditions of the dominant monotheistic religions. That may have made sense back when there were a billion humans on the planet. Over the course of the past century, our population has bloomed to over seven billion. We’ve diminished competitive predators in most of our territories to the point of extinction. The human prey pool has grown to include all life forms. As a result, our planet is in the midst of a human-generated extinction spasm that threatens the viability of life, as we know it.
Our sense of entitlement to dominate is at the root of the problem. Our spiritual traditions were unable keep pace with our technological development over the past century. Instead of recognizing the problems associated with our population bloom, they continued to preach domination. As a result, the hands of the Doomsday Clock are quivering on three-minutes to midnight. The Doomsday Project is not some fly-by-night gang of discontents, as many would have us believe. It is a decades-long consortium of top scientists scattered around the globe, who meticulously comb through the data in their fields of expertise to measure the effects of human activity on Life. Their news reflects reality.
There’s good news hidden in this scary scenario. There is no more compelling drive than survival. Every living being has it. Horses, cats and carrots have as much of it as we do. From my perspective, it seems that all the species are knocking on the portals of human consciousness in a last ditch effort to shift our course. I suggest that we invite them in.
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I’ve worn a few hats: horse and dog trainer, teacher, student, psychotherapist, herbalist, disabled person, environmental and social activist, friend, writer, wife and widow are a few. Plants and animals have been my allies throughout the journey. There have been challenges along the way. Some made me stronger; others bent me. My story is both unique and yawningly common.
We all encounter trials. Our personal responses determine the course of our development. Our collective responses shape the world in which we live.
As I write, our nation is headed toward a presidential election. One of the candidates, is a flagrant narcissist. All but one of the others, demonstrate strong narcissistic tendencies. The scary thing about these wanna-be leaders is their impassioned followers. I wonder as I watch events unfold, what those folks are thinking. Don’t they remember Hitler? That’s not a productive question. What we really need to get clearer on is what causes humans to act so nutty?
According to law, craziness is clearly defined. Three criteria can get anybody detained for a mental health evaluation in the States: being a danger to self, others or not having the capacity to care for oneself. When those standards are applied to our culture, it’s easy to see that, at least in the States, humans have gone around the mental health bend. How else could our democracy have produced a culture that wantonly destroys the whole planet’s life-support system?
Where does this behavior come from? An important clue was recently uncovered by those who study the human nervous system. Stress is epigenetic. When a person experiences profound stress, their genes change. Their brains become highly reactive to perceived threats. Once stress has altered neurology, it’s difficult to undo the damage. The diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) came into vogue some years after the Viet Nam War. It explained what we were seeing in veterans. The question that haunted this diagnosis was, why do some warriors get sick and others seem okay when they return home from the same experiences.
This seems to be explained by the genetics changes wrought by stress. What this tells us is that the effects of stress accumulate over the generations. So, if you’re from a family that was subjected to genocide, you’re probably hardwired for a character disorder. Anatomically and functionally, the amygdala and subgenual pre-frontal cortex are supercharged and the structures designed to modulate their actions are compromised. This causes folks to experience chronic anxiety and to over react to to relatively minor threats, among other things. The biggest other thing is the development of what we call ‘character disorders.’ Narcissism and Borderline Personality Disorders appear to be the most common. The symptoms of these diseases are not caused by character deficits, as was previously thought. Rather, it appears to be a built-in physiologic vulnerability to stress. Those whose ancestors were subjected to profound stress are more likely to demonstrate symptoms of PTSD. I wonder how many of us don’t have profound stress bending our genomes.
The hallmark of Personality Disorders is the need to control others. That makes perfect sense when seen in the context of PTSD and epigenetics. It can be traced back to a sensible slight-of-hand performed by our nervous systems to protect us from prime predators, which now translates into each other.
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Many who prefer relating to critters carry trauma injuries and sometimes, character disorders. We may be drawn to them because controlling them is socially sanctioned and easier than controlling people. It also provides a barrier from people. The great news is that the critters we’re drawn to hold a key to healing these problems, which are also causing us to overheat and crowd our shared life-support system to the point of ending life.
As tough as change is for a brain hardwired to protect itself this way, the horse compels us with a finesse I haven’t seen duplicated. It requires an adjustment in thinking to trade-in dominion over for being with. When conducted well over time, joining a band of horses is a breathtaking dance of empowered liberation for both humans and horses.
The size and emotional volatility of horses carry hazards. To be safe in their presence, we tune in. When we do, they relax and we’re safer. There is no better mindfulness coach than the horse. The moment we slip out of the here-and-now, horse behavior changes. Because they have a preponderance of mirror neurons, brain cells that mirror the affective content of their environment, they are masters at reflecting our emotional state. If we’re scared and defensive, they become so too. When we let go of our internal dialogues and pay attention to what’s so now, we reestablish our connection. We become an ally instead of a threat.
What’s important to horses? The same stuff that’s important to us. Fifty-six-million-years ago, we shared stem parents. In the way-back times, we were siblings. We’ve evolved similarly. We share a social proclivity to live in small, changeable bands that cleave together for safety and emotional comfort. A lone horse is extraordinarily vulnerable, as is a lone human. After centuries of selective breeding, the domesticated horse is highly tuned to humans. In their view, we become members of their bands. If we play our cards right, we can become recipients of their healing in the process.
When people practice mindfulness regularly, we function better. This leads to the development of virtue, which in turn brings wisdom. Mindfulness, virtue and wisdom are what spiritual traditions are charged with cultivating. They’re also what heals character disorders. Horses train us better and faster than religion or psychotherapy. They have more practice and don’t judge. The practice demands physical engagement. This opens the internal space for us to be present in the moment; instead of fretting over when and how we will be shamed, betrayed or abandoned next, we’re focused on keeping our feet out from under theirs.
Our present moment is dire. The same thinking that delivered us to three-minutes before midnight won’t fix this. It’s time to step beyond our comfort zones. Safety lies in the voices that we’ve tried for so long to shut out. In my experience, horses are the best mindfulness teachers, but they’re not the only ones. Developing affinities with any plant or creature can support our personal and collective evolution. The first step is to expand our consciousnesses enough to give credence to our shared reality. We are interdependent.