1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind somehow stuff works 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, we're gonna stuff to blow your mind. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. We've 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: talked a bit about trust on here for about hormones, 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: about oxytocin, because you know, we're always big into talking 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: about what are the what are the scientific reasons for 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: all these surface levels of interaction for all though the 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: ways that we we feel, the ways that we behave 9 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: like what's what's making us tick? And oxytocin often comes 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: up in terms of trust, in terms of love, in 11 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:48,599 Speaker 1: terms of emotional connections. So it was probably a bit 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: too much for us to think, or for anyone to 13 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: to get the idea that this is just a purely 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: positive thing, that there's something in the human body and 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: our in all of our the machinery that under lies 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: who we are, that there's one substance that's just nothing 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: but feel good in a jar. It's not the platonic ideal. 18 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: And if anything, this, this idea that oxytocin could have 19 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,199 Speaker 1: a dark side, is just more evidence of dud the 20 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: duality of things right, And we've talked about oxytocin really 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: in terms of cuddling and hugging. Um, that whole idea 22 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: that if you wrap someone in an embrace for twenty 23 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: seconds or more, that you're giving them just the right 24 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: amount of pressure that your body will actually begin to 25 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: produce oxytocin. Now, I want anybody like that idea, and 26 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: I think it's great. Totally in favor of twenty second 27 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: hugs all right, But between consending adults, we yes, we 28 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: will this sort of like hug pile up hug club thing. 29 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: I'm not behind by the way, um, but we will 30 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: revisit this idea later as we talk about the dark 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: side of oxytocin. So where do we get this, this 32 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: idea that's that oxytocin is the super feel good a drug. 33 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: The thing is, we can kind of we can kind 34 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: of lay this at one individual's feet for the most part. 35 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: One uh one one doctor love one love doctor uh 36 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: an individual who you've seen on TED talks up there 37 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: with his microphone preaching the word of oxytocin and making 38 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: a very compelling argument. As individuals who give TED talks, 39 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: at least the more recent ones, often do you totally 40 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: buy into it? And you're like, yes, the feel good hormone, 41 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: the mother hormone, the hug hormone, the kiss hormone. Let 42 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: me have some of that. Yeah, and we'll talk about 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: Dr Paul Zack ak the love doctor, in a moment. 44 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: But I wanted just to mention the oxytocin is an 45 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: extract from the human posterior pituitary gland, and it was 46 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: discovered in nineteen o nine when the British pharmacologists or 47 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: Henry H. Dale, found that it could contract the uterus 48 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: of a pregnant cat. And of course that's another way 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: in which oxytocin shows up right, not just in cuddling 50 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: or um, you know, acts of love making, but also experiments, 51 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: cat experimentation and basically mammalian birth right um. According to 52 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: Ed Young, though, we have taken oxytocin as as the 53 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: sort of panacea for all ills, and we'll talk more 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: about that with regards to Paul Zack. But I didn't 55 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: want to say that the hormone is found in everything 56 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: from octopuses to sheep, and it's evolutionary roots stretched back 57 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: a half a billion years, and for decades, animal studies 58 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,399 Speaker 1: have shown the oxytocin is important for social interactions. So 59 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: for example, if you block the hormone UM, monogamous vowles 60 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: will actually become more promiscuous and use neglect their newborn 61 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: lambs if they don't have access to that oxytocin. So 62 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: you could see how it would be informing our ideas 63 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: of UM connection, bonding, love, and and even in the 64 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: whole sort of birth and death cycle that we have 65 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: these notions about how we go along here in society. Yeah, 66 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: all these social animal interactions that we in evitably have, 67 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: all of these additional emotional layers that we wrap up 68 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: in as humans. Uh. At the scene of each crime, 69 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: oxytocin so like that's the thread that runs through all 70 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: of them. So of course we end up focusing on that, 71 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: and then as it's reported and championed it uh, it 72 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: increasingly becomes seen as this magical feel good elixir that 73 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: it flows through us. You're right, because there are accounts 74 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: of being released when you tweet something UM and you dance. Yes, 75 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: you know, It's just it shows up everywhere. And I 76 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: think that is what some researchers will say is the 77 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: problem is that people are looking more at the results 78 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: and not necessarily looking at the chemical and why it 79 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: is produced. Um. So again, let's let's talk about Paul 80 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: Zack though, because he kind of is the guy that 81 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: you have to point to who at least brought this 82 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: idea of oxytocin as this utopian chemical to a lot 83 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: of people's imaginations. Yeah, he's an American neuro economist and 84 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: he even refers to himself as doctor Love. So he 85 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: really presses this idea that that that not only is 86 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: it at the root of all these uh uh, these 87 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: positive social interactions, but that it can or at least 88 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: has the potential to change the world, that it can 89 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: be used almost offensively for the social betterment of the 90 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: human race. Now, he actually even calls it the morality 91 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: chemical because of some of his studies that he did. 92 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: Many different variations on, by the way, but the basic 93 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: premises that there's something called the trust game, and this 94 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: is when a person player one, is given some money 95 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: and told to send a portion of it to the 96 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: second person who is player too. Now player two has 97 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: a one off choice to either accept or reject the proposal, 98 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: and if Player to rejects, then neither one of them 99 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: get any money whatsoever. But if player to accepts, the 100 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: money is split according to the proposal. So again, here's 101 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: this idea that you know, there's some sort of morality 102 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: in in um generosity at play here, and typically a 103 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: low offer less than a third of the player's initial 104 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: endowment UM is rejected as stingy, ensuring that both players 105 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: getting are getting nothing. And that's where that sort of 106 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: morality comes into, because even though someone is offering another 107 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: person in a certain amount of money, if you if 108 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,200 Speaker 1: I offer you ten cents, you might be like, what, 109 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: in no way, that's not enough. I'm not even gonna 110 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: take it, and then neither one of us get anything. 111 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: So when Zach tested the blood of players who had 112 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: demonstrated trustworthy behavior, he found that their oxytocin levels had 113 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: increased in proportion to the monetary transfer. And he did 114 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: this again and again um, as I said, just with 115 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: different scenarios, getting more and more philanthropic. Right, So, sometimes 116 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: sometimes players would give to UM a third party and 117 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: they would begin to see these spikes again an oxytocin 118 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: and the act of their generosity. And so he's sitting 119 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: there making this case that perhaps just the presence of 120 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: oxytocin could be enough to change the way that we 121 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: operate in the world. Right, and as no surprise, as 122 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: though we're looking at some links yesterday, you can go 123 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: on Amazon and you can buy oxytocin. You can buy 124 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: there's one called liquid Trust that that doesn't sound creepy 125 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: at all. It's in a spray canister, um, so that 126 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: you can make people trust you supposedly. UM. I don't know. 127 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: I haven't tried the product, but my guess is that 128 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: it doesn't work. The reviews seem to think it didn't work. 129 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: Now I have it just being piped into the air 130 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: dex Here no evidence that anybody is getting any more 131 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: generous with their sandwiches. So one one of the things 132 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: that we're gonna get into the particulars of this. But 133 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: I think that the route here is that that it's 134 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: that that oxytocin ends up being presented as this, uh, 135 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: this positive hormone, as this emotional hormone, is this morality 136 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: hormone when it's in a sense it is. It is 137 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: a social hormone, and it is it definitely isn'tvolved in 138 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: different social interactions. But are all social interactions positive? No, not, 139 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: not in the animal world, not in the human world. 140 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: And even the emotional responses in the human world that 141 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: we see as positive. When you strip them away and 142 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: you start looking at how they work as an organism, 143 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: you see just how much human bs is involved there. 144 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: You know, you can easily make the make the the 145 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: the argument that this whole hormonal rush and the attachment 146 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: been in the bond between between parent and child. I mean, 147 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: that's just about the organism surviving just gets down to 148 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: the root genetic mission that in and of itself is 149 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: completely devoid of love and understanding. All right, we're gonna 150 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: get to the bottom of this of the much more 151 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: nuanced versioning understanding that we are having of oxytocin in 152 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: a moment. But let's take a quick break. All right, 153 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: we're back. Let's talk about C twoson and how actually 154 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,839 Speaker 1: has been showing up in studies is taking on a 155 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: far different role um talking about envy and schaden freud. Yes, 156 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: now in they of course we've discussed in detail. We 157 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: did a whole episode about it during our exploration of 158 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: the Seven Deadly sin in the is is when you 159 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: you see something that you want, or you see something 160 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: in another person and you maybe you don't even want it, 161 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: but you just sort of detest that. It's there you 162 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: might even just want to destroy it. But but you 163 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: have this intense negative response to something in somebody else 164 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,079 Speaker 1: or off somebody else, And then there's schaden freud. But 165 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: that's when something unfortunate happens to another person inside you 166 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: sort of celebrate when you see or hear about it, right, yes, 167 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: which is it's not a great emotion, right, but all 168 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: of this at some point or another have probably experienced it. 169 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: Who doesn't like to see their friends fail every now 170 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: and then, just just to feel a little better. But 171 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: it could be in front of me, right, Yes, yeah, 172 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: I think, and that's probably I bet, I bet that 173 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: if you had some sort of widespread study on this, 174 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: you'd probably see it's more in front of me than enemy, right, yeah, 175 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: because your enemy, you know, that's because it's I feel 176 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: like part of the schaden freud a situation is that 177 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: you feel good about it, but you also feel bad 178 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: about it, like you know, you're not supposed to feel it. Well, 179 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: you don't only feel schaden freud about you know, a 180 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: bitter enemy, uh, you know, falling in defeat. That's more 181 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: just you know, the pure victory of overcoming your adversaries. Well, 182 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: that might be a clue as to why oxytocin plays 183 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: a part in shane freud, because if you think about it, 184 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: as you said, oxytocin is really the social hormone. If 185 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: you feel closer to someone that you know, then perhaps 186 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: you're not going to dwell in that arena of emotions. 187 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: So I wanted to point out that Simone Chamai to 188 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: Sourcie at the University of Haifa and Israel showed that 189 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: as well as promoting trust and generosity, oxytocin can heighten 190 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: feelings of envy and shaden freud. This is in the 191 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: journal Biological Psychiatry. When volunteers played a gambling game, those 192 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: who inhaled the hormone gloated more when they beat other players. 193 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: They also reported more acute stubs of jealousy and when 194 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: the tables were turned. Okay, now that gets us into 195 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: more of this again social construct here, and you think 196 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: about how we treat one another and how we are 197 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: sometimes biased when we make decisions because of the relationships 198 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: we have with people. Yeah, I mean everywhere you go 199 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: in human culture, obviously they're all these divisions, their divisions 200 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: of race, their divisions of of economic status, of show 201 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: social status, of of your status in a working environment, 202 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: all these these barriers come into play, and in many 203 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: cases artificial barriers that are just purely social inform but 204 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: you end up with all these different packs or tribes. 205 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: And we've seen this again and again that even if 206 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: two people are in a room and they have something 207 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: in common is say, the same shut on or the 208 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: same color, they tend to just subconsciously feel more connected 209 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: to that person. So the link can be so tenuous, 210 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: and yet we make that connection Oh I have that 211 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: shirt or oh you like that band as well, Yeah, 212 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: because on some level we want to we want to 213 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: project our own feelings onto that person and believe that 214 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: they're like us. That's all. We have icebreakers. So I 215 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: know everyone hates icebreakers, but if if one stupid game 216 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: of ice breaking trust falls or passing notes around, if 217 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: that can prevent one office X murder, then I say 218 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: go for it absolutely. And actually, as an aside, since 219 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: we just did an episode on vulnerability, that's a good 220 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: example of when you show your vulnerability, you show yourself 221 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,839 Speaker 1: and there's more of a commonality there. But Caroline, the 222 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: clerk of the University of Antwerp in Belgium, she found 223 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,079 Speaker 1: that people under the hormones influence became more cooperative with 224 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: one another only if they have some information about their partner. 225 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,440 Speaker 1: That when they were paired with an anonymous stranger, they 226 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 1: became less cooperative. Now that was some real insight, because again, 227 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: oxytocin has been touted as this this bonding agent. Yeah, 228 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: like something that's just breaking down barriers. You pump it 229 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 1: into a room and uh and two bitter enemies are 230 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: just gonna embrace in a hug. Not so, because our 231 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: social interactions are also about divisions. It's I mean from 232 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: a just an evolutionary standpoint. I mean, think to that 233 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: scene in two thousand and one, uh, Space Odyssey where 234 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: you know, it's tribes of monkeys beating each other up 235 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: with with bones and that social interaction, and and no 236 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: doubt there was there was a little oxytocin involved in 237 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: that situation. Not that that actually happened. I'm not I'm 238 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: not of the mind that that seemed involved actual apes 239 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: killing each other. Well, I think the problem too is 240 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: that people when they looked at Paul's acts work, and 241 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,080 Speaker 1: he was a big proponent of oxytosin and basically saying like, oh, well, 242 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: they're there in the London riots. If only, you know, 243 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: people weren't high on their testos room and they were 244 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: high on oxytocin, that wouldn't have happened. People said, no, 245 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: that's that's a cultural thing that that went on. It 246 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: had to do with economics, that had to do with 247 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,959 Speaker 1: um education. There were there's so many different factors involved there. 248 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: And Paul Za kept saying, well, no, I don't think so, 249 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: because because our results are coming from the chemicals which 250 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: are measurable in the blood, and that's far more accurate 251 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: than say, fuzzy images from a brain scan, we think 252 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: that there's more hard evidence. But he, you know, I 253 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: don't think that he or some of the researchers at 254 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: that time really took into account the cultural aspects. And 255 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: I wanted to mention that he's young. Kim of the 256 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: University of California and Santa Barbara found that in South Korea, 257 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: where it's usually a faux pas to sort of burden 258 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: your friends with any of your problems, he found that 259 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: people who were certain carriers of this gene um how 260 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: to to explain this, We've talked about this before. Actually, 261 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: there are some people who have an a variant of 262 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: this gene and some people have a G variant and 263 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: basically it helps doc the oxytocin. So you you know 264 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: the receptors. You're gonna have much more oxytocin flowing through 265 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: you if you have this G variant. Okay, So this 266 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: is where we get into the people who are genetically huggers. Us. 267 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: We're talking about this hug acts. People are hugging all 268 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: the time. They might be needing a fix because there 269 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 1: they really like that oxytocin. Well, what this researcher found 270 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: is that, um, the people who are the hug junkies, 271 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: or who should be the hug junkies, actually solace far 272 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: less than they're they're non caring variants, and that at 273 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's it's the social trait, 274 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: it's the social sensitivity, and it's not you know, this 275 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: idea that you're responding to oxytocin is not determined by 276 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: biology but by culture. And here's a good example of 277 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: people who are acting in a certain way even though 278 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: biologically you should say, ah, yeah, those are the people 279 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: who are going to seek solace most often. Now, of course, 280 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: mindset plays a huge role here as well, and we 281 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: look at the research from Jennifer Bart's from the Mount 282 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: Sinai School of Medicine, if you found several responses that 283 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: depend on a person's minds, that showed that socially secure 284 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: people remember mothers in a more positive light after inhaling oxytocin, 285 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: while anxious ones remember their mothers as less caring and 286 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: more distant. So in that brief example, you can see 287 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: how the oxytocin YES is having it's having effect on 288 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: the individual, but it kind of depends on the mindset, 289 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: the existing wiring or the existing plumbing when you when 290 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: you pump this stuff in, YES actually show the oxytocin 291 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: hinders hinders trust and cooperation among people with borderline personality disorder. 292 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: So again it cannot be at this reductionist like you 293 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,479 Speaker 1: just give someone some oxytocin and they're going to cooperate. 294 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: You can't just get that bottle of liquid trust and 295 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: just start hosing people down thinking that it's going to 296 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: universally have this positive effect on the right because you 297 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: have the cultural aspect to it, and then you just 298 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: have the mindsets um So some people actually may act 299 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: in ways that are counter intuitive to the whole social 300 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: bonding situation, and that brings up this question of why 301 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: why would oxytocin act in those various ways, And much 302 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: of that is still a miss free but there are 303 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: a couple of theories. So back to Bart's now, she 304 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,680 Speaker 1: would say that the key to understanding what the hormone 305 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: does is really in talking about its function rather how 306 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: and where it shows up. And there are a couple 307 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: of theories out there. Oxytocin could help reduce anxiety and fear, 308 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: or it could simply motivate people to seek out social connections, 309 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: which would account for a rise and trust and cooperation 310 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: in some people, but also explain why oxytocin sniffers gravitate 311 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: towards others resembling themselves, and why people who fear social 312 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: rejection are not necessarily better off with more of the hormone. 313 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: So if you have anxiety in someone and uh, they 314 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: get a dose of oxytocin and they they're they're fear 315 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: arousal is heightened, then that's just sort of playing to 316 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: what they're already experiencing right now and helping them to 317 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: what they think battle is. You know, these these uh threats, 318 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: We're gonna take one more quick break and when we 319 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: come back more on this exciting topic. So what is 320 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: this this all pointing towards towards pointies work The obvious 321 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: that oxytocin is not a magic bullet. It's not something 322 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: that you can put in a can spraying somebody's face 323 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: and it's going to fix whatever is ailing them. But 324 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: and as we're saying that it's there are plenty of 325 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: studies going on right now. I think what forty different 326 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: clinical studies are currently ongoing about oxytocin, and and they're 327 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: exploring it with a more nuanced understanding for the most 328 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: part of what oxytocin is. So we're hoping to to 329 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: get to get a better understanding of how it works 330 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: and how and how it is engaging in all these 331 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: these show social interactions and there's the possibility that we 332 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: will learn how to better treat certain conditions with oxytopes 333 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: right Like, a lot of these clinical trials are looking 334 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: at autism and schizophrenia because the idea is if you 335 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: if you give a child who is autistic a dose 336 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: of this, that perhaps he or she will heighten their 337 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: ability to connect to bond, which is one of the 338 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: things that when you look at the autism spectrum. There's 339 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: there's sometimes a lack of that um. But researchers are saying, 340 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: don't go online and get the spray. First of all, 341 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: the concentrations aren't going to be enough to to really 342 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: do anything. And second of all, if you look at 343 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: these other findings that say that it can unheighten um, 344 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: you know, this, this envy, this schiden freud um, these 345 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,679 Speaker 1: other sort of antisocial aspects of it, were not certain 346 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: how that's going to play out with people who might 347 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,360 Speaker 1: have autism or schizophrenia. So, you know, let the let 348 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: the research continue on that so that they can get 349 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: a better picture of it. Yeah, because it is a 350 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: large extent the each individual's wiring, each individual's plumbing is 351 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: a little different and sometimes dramatically different depending on what's 352 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:59,399 Speaker 1: going on there neurologically. So spraying one person down with 353 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 1: oxytose and spring another one down potentially vastly different effects. 354 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:07,679 Speaker 1: So yeah, and you know, and I say, do you 355 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: not try at home? And I do understand how in 356 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: one level sort of disappointing because of its associations with 357 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: all the sort of kitten and rainbows um existence, you know, childbirth, 358 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: breast milk production, cuddling, but you know, it's a chemical 359 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: and it's it's far more complex, and we, above everything, 360 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: we want science to give us these silver bullets they 361 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: want to We want science to say, here's the vaccine 362 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 1: for this, here is the treatment that fixes this, Here 363 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: is a is another way that we can address something 364 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: that is wrong with an individual or even with us 365 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,679 Speaker 1: as a species. Well, yeah, I was gonna say, I 366 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 1: wasn't actually gonna bring this up, but you and I 367 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: have talked about this before. Ted. The conference has come 368 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: under fire sometimes because it it does deliver these big 369 00:20:55,200 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: ideas and sort of silver bullets, you know, solutions, and 370 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: some people have said that it can be sort of 371 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,359 Speaker 1: reductionist in that way, and Paul Zacks Ted talk is 372 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 1: really great and it is really uplifting, but at the 373 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: end of the day, it's it's you know, humanity is 374 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: much messier than that. So there you have it. Oxytocin. 375 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,200 Speaker 1: We've covered it before. Now we've covered a little more, 376 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: and at this time we've we've we've added a little 377 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: darkness to our discussions of it. So so take that 378 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: with you as you as you observe yourself either engaging 379 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: in a twenty second hug or feeling the seething envy 380 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: as you look at your friends in your Facebook feed. 381 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,199 Speaker 1: You know what I'm going as for Halloween? What are 382 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: you going in? An aggressive oxytocin hugger. See doesn't that 383 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: totally recast your idea of hugging? Now? Yeah? Yeah, like 384 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: a like a junkie, like I just name a fix 385 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: and a fix and I am the everybody else who 386 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: gets the hugs and I don't. There was a reason 387 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: we hugged. There's a recent skit on Key and Peel 388 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: where it's where there's a baseball player that truly into 389 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: slapping other baseball players butts and uh and he ends 390 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: at the end of the other baseball players on the 391 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: team tell him, no, we just we don't want you 392 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: to slapper butts anymore. Um, you just do it way 393 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: too much and you're just way too into it and uh. 394 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: And at the end of the episode, he's like a 395 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: he's he's like a junkie with withdrawals, just asking you know, 396 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: for one more slap, to one more butt uh and 397 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: and and you know it's silly and goofy, but but really, 398 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: I mean a social interaction like slapping a teammates, but 399 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: there's invariably oxytocin involved there, and if one is a 400 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: type but slapper, then then the situation is very akin 401 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: to an addict. So so I think I'm gonna create 402 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: these sort of blow up arms that really create a 403 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 1: vice gript around people for they can't escape, and maybe 404 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: a little countdown clock so after twenty seconds they can escape, Yeah, 405 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: or you can just shout the countdown like right in 406 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: their years. If you I'm going to be the most 407 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: popular person at the party. Yeah, all right, So there 408 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,959 Speaker 1: you have it, the darkness of oxytocin. We'll let us 409 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: know how this information incorporates in your understanding of your 410 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: own life or the lives of those around you. We're 411 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: always game to hear those, and hey, in future episodes, 412 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: we're gonna try to fit in more loosener mail that 413 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: we're kind of running fast and ragged at the moment, 414 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: or at least I am. So how do you find us? 415 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: How do you get in touch with us? How do 416 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: you find the podcast? You got to stuff to blow 417 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: your mind? Dot com? That's what you do, because that's 418 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,159 Speaker 1: where we put everything. And then if you want to 419 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: interact with us on a particular social network or another. Well, 420 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: we're on Facebook, we are on Tumbler, We're stuff to 421 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: blow your mind and both of those. And on Twitter 422 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: our handle is blow the Mind and you can always 423 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: stop the line and can do so below the mind 424 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: at Discovery dot com for more on this and thousands 425 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: of other topics. Does It How Stuff Works dot com