The life of each of us begins with the fusion of two sex cells of a man and a woman, the so-called gametes containing DNA. In other words, the DNA of each person is the genes that were passed on from the father and mother; they are redistributed absolutely randomly, forming new combinations. This is how we turn out, completely different from each other.
Perhaps all mothers, from the very birth of their baby, simply dream of raising a real child prodigy. And I was no exception. When my daughter was born, I looked through a lot of different information on the Internet about the early development of children, about different exercises and other systems. It was all quite interesting and I learned a lot. And besides, I was greatly inspired by catchy headlines: “multiplication tables from 3 years old”, “Teaching different languages from 2 years old” and so on. But when I began to do an in-depth analysis of early teaching methods for multiplication tables or English language I realized that this was all nonsense and they wouldn’t help at all.
My daughter is now 6 years old and 4 years ago I did not have the opportunity to delve deeper and study the material on the development of children from 2 years old, because at that time I went to work and my daughter went to kindergarten. And, the strangest thing is, while talking with a neuropsychologist I knew, I began to understand how different ways early development imperfect, and in some cases may even have a downside. But, despite all this, my daughter has become quite smart for her age and my mother says that she took after me: she also began to walk and talk, draw and do various crafts at an early age.
My daughter has been going to a drawing class since she was 3 years old and she loved it. She drew every day, and then sat next to me and told me about her drawing. But now for some reason I can’t understand why labor and drawing lessons in a regular school are difficult for us? I was simply confident that we wouldn’t have any problems at school, but for example, everything is fine with mathematics: she always solves examples up to 10 correctly.
Features of children's development
It turns out that in childhood we developed poorly fine motor skills. And to the question why everything is going so well with our labor and drawing lessons, I found the answer from my friend, a neuropsychologist. Now I’ll try to retell his words to you: the brain activity of children manifests itself in completely different ways, it all depends on the age of the baby. For example, at 3 years old a child should have developed only a small part of the brain, and by 7 years old the rest of the brain should begin to develop. For this reason, experienced psychologists do not recommend reading and solving complex mathematical problems before the age of 5. Since from 2 to 5 years it is necessary to develop sensory skills.
And for this, the baby will simply have to play and move more, communicate with peers, walk with his parents in the park, touch the grass and trees, and, if possible, draw more. And for this, parents do not necessarily have to have any pedagogical education; they just need to have the desire, and, of course, some free time to pay attention to their baby. And only now I realized this.
Many parents, due to the negative influence of fashion on the early development of their child, begin to teach him at the age of 2-3. Of course, you can collect puzzles or construction sets together with your child, thereby developing fine motor skills. But it is important to know that before the age of 5 you should not try to teach him to read or solve mathematical problems with him, since his brain activity is not yet ready for this. Otherwise, you can only harm your baby.
Each part of the baby's brain develops at a certain period and therefore there are certain learning parameters for each age. And therefore, if at this moment the brain is only ready for the baby to take a pencil and start drawing his own art, then reading stories will be completely inappropriate. Otherwise, you will develop some abilities to the detriment of others necessary at his age. Don't forget this. If your baby is not inclined to become a genius and if mom and dad have average level intelligence, then your child will be exactly the same, there is no need to mock him.
From whom is intelligence transmitted?
The formation of intelligence is influenced by many factors, from access to information to genetic characteristics. The researchers focused on the latter. Here are some important factors from the world of genetics that scientists have identified. After studying them, you will know exactly how intelligence is transmitted from parents to children in the womb:
- The intelligence gene does not pass from father to son, that is, if you have above average intelligence, then there is a 100% chance that your heir will have an average level of intelligence.
- Idiocy is also not inherited from father to son.
- The mind is passed on from the father only to the daughter, and even then only by 50%.
- A son can inherit 80% of intelligence only from his mother, which, in turn, was passed on to her from his father.
- The daughters of child prodigies will only have half their intelligence.
This is the reason why there are so many male geniuses and only a few brilliant women in our world. But there are also a lot of stupid men, which is where the not very good statistics come from. Most Nobel laureates are men, but alcoholics and idiots can also be men.
Conclusions for men and women on this situation
Our world of genetics is simply a miracle science, the regular study of which greatly helps the world not only to successfully treat many diseases, but also to determine the appearance and level of intelligence of your child.
Modern genetic scientists are on the very threshold of scientific discoveries that in the future will significantly help reduce the aging process of people and which will increase the life of mankind.
Conclusions for men:
- To learn at least a little about the future abilities of his son, a man should look at his wife’s father and, if he occupies a good position, then his son will be very similar to him in this.
- Your daughter will inherit exactly half of your intelligence, but she will also acquire exactly the same half of stupidity. Intellectually, she will be very close to you, just like her son. If you are smart and want the same generation, dream about daughters, and if you are not smart, dream about sons
- All your intellectual abilities acquired from your mother's father.
Conclusions for women:
- If you have a son, he will simply be a copy of your father, so there is no point in scolding him for being “stupid.”
- Your daughter will be raised the same way as you, but her mind will come from your husband.
Non-genetic reasons for a high level of intelligence in a child
Experienced doctors and psychologists have long proven that intelligence is directly transmitted to children from the X chromosomes, that is, from the mother. But the level of intelligence in children will depend not only on the mental abilities of the mother, but also on how it develops. The formation of a certain mindset is directly influenced by the following important factors:
- The environment in which your child grows, methods of education and other conditions that influence the development of intelligence.
- The development of intelligence in the early stages, that is, from the age of 3, is considered a rather important point, but this means that you need to immediately sit down to scientific dissertations or other scientific books.
- Using development methods mental activity taken together, it will be more effective.
Methods for early baby development
When the baby is not yet born, doctors recommend, if possible, listening to more classical music starting from the 6th month of pregnancy, since it is at this moment that the baby begins to hear everything subtly thanks to the active stimulation of brain neurons. Classical music has a beneficial effect on the future level of intelligence and mental abilities.
In addition, what the child eats has no less influence on the mind, so while you are still pregnant, try to stick to proper nutrition And healthy image life in general. French scientists, after a series of large studies, proved that breast milk has a beneficial effect on intellectual abilities, even if you have only been breastfeeding for a couple of months. This fact has a good effect on the success of your children at school and in later life.
The environment also has a significant influence on development; the child should feel safe, but if he is always dressed up and often cries for no reason, then this is a reason to start worrying. During constant stressful situations, the intelligence of any person can decrease, not to mention children.
Yes, sure. All of our characteristics are inherited to one degree or another - even such seemingly completely acquired ones as tanning and the French language *.
In order not to end the article right here, let's try to specify the question.
What does intelligence depend more on - heredity or upbringing?
All our characteristics depend partly on heredity and partly on environmental conditions. But the strength of environmental influence varies for different traits. For example, livestock breeders know that even from a completely outbred cow you can get more milk due to good feeding and care (environmental influences). But it is impossible to increase the fat content of milk in the same way - this parameter almost entirely depends on heredity.
Human intelligence, like the fat content of cow's milk, depends mainly on heredity. In 1996, the American Psychological Association assessed the influence of heredity/upbringing on intelligence level as 75/25**; in 2004, an analysis of several dozen scientific papers in this area yielded 85/15. (Wikipedia, English)
Is genius inherited?
No, it is not transmitted. Genius is a unique, one in a million times combination of genes. When germ cells are formed, a recombination of genes occurs, the unique combination is destroyed, and the children of geniuses turn out to be completely ordinary people.
Again, this cruel rule hits livestock breeders the hardest - the children of the most beautiful, tastiest and fattest pigs are much inferior to their parents. - If only we could propagate them vegetatively, like strawberries! It is for this purpose (to ensure one hundred percent preservation of the characteristics of a brilliant parent) that they are trying to introduce cloning into agricultural practice, but so far things have not worked out very well.
Can smart parents give birth to a stupid child?
Maybe why not. The combinations from the previous question are random - they work both good and bad. bad side. But. From a large number of accidents statistics are born, and they tell us that smart parents are most likely to have smart children***.
Looking at your idiot, do you begin to think that statistics rested on him? - Perhaps at this moment you are the hero of the proverb “they don’t show a fool half his work.” Children's brains are not yet formed; As your child ages, your intellect will become more and more like you. (The same American association that gave us 75/25 for teenagers and older gave us 45/55 for children.)
Is the oldest child really smarter than the next ones?
Everyone has probably read in fairy tales that the first child in a family is a smart kid, the second is “this way and that,” and the third is a fool. The trick is that this is not only a fairy tale, but also a harsh reality: the fact of a decrease in the level of intelligence in the second and subsequent children has been confirmed statistically and is not disputed by anyone now. (For second children: yes, the older one is really smarter, but the difference is small, about three IQ points.)
In 2007, Norwegian scientists tried to explain this phenomenon and measured the intelligence of children in families where the first child died in early age. From the point of view of biology, the eldest child in such families was the second, from the point of view of education - the first; It turned out that such children were smart like the first ones. Consequently, the decrease in intelligence with increasing child serial number is explained not by biological factors (heredity), but solely by upbringing****.
Is intelligence passed on from mother to sons?
This fairy tale is circulated in Russian-language sources in the following form: “The genes for intelligence are located in the X chromosome, which the boy receives only from his mother - therefore, the son’s intelligence depends on the mother,” with a reference to the research of British scientists. This is immediately alarming: it is well known that “British scientists” in half the cases mean “the evil editor told us to urgently write a note, and we got a little out of hand.”
A search of British sites confirmed my fears. Yes, indeed, a boy receives an X chromosome only from his mother (he receives a Y chromosome from his father). Genes responsible for intelligence exist, there are several dozen of them, some of them may be located on the X chromosome. Because of this, the child receives slightly more intelligence genes from the mother than from the father - say, 18 from the mother and 16 from the father (the numbers are just made up).
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* White-skinned people (red hair, with freckles) cannot sunbathe like everyone else; people who are receptive to languages, given the same training, will speak French better than everyone else.
** Clarification: heritability shows the proportion of genotypic variability in phenotypic variability, i.e. takes the spread of the trait in the population and calculates which share of this spread what is made up of genes and what is made up of the environment. The statement “the share of heredity in the formation of intelligence is 75%” is a simplification.
***If parents awesome smart, then they need to read the paragraph about genius again.
**** a) parents work with subsequent children less than with the first; b) the example for the first child is the parent, and for the second - the first child.
There is so much controversy, speculation and expectations around this topic that I would like to know the opinion of experts. Comments on myths about raising intellectuals Nadezhda Zyryanova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychogenetics, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.
Myth one
Intelligence is inherited, and “bad” genes cannot be changed. In fact, a child's intelligence depends on both genes and the environment in which he grows up. This was proven by studies of the intellectual level of identical twins, who, by chance, were separated and raised in different families, in different cultural environments. These twins have the same genotype, but their level of intelligence is different.
It is difficult to determine how intellectually gifted a child is, especially when he is very small, and it is impossible to change the genotype. But it is possible to create a rich environment for the development of all his natural abilities. The importance of the environment is also proven by the following fact: when children whose natural parents were not distinguished by intelligence and abilities were adopted by families that could provide these children with all the conditions for development, the intellectual level of the adopted children increased significantly after communicating with their new intelligent parents.
Our psychologists conducted an interesting experiment. They observed a group of six-year-olds with the same IQ. Some of them stayed for another year in kindergarten, some went to school. A year later, the level of intelligence of those who went to school was higher than the level of intelligence of “kindergarteners.” This is not surprising: the school offers a richer environment for development.
Myth two
The main thing is to give impetus to the development of intelligence at an early age, then everything will go by itself. Not true. In one study, American psychologists selected young children whose mothers had very low intelligence levels and studied them. mental development and preparation for school. Over the course of several years of training, psychologists managed to significantly increase the intelligence of these babies: some IQs increased by 30 points! When they entered school, they were ahead in development of many of their peers. But when the special classes ended, the children returned to the world of their underdeveloped relatives, began to study in regular schools, their intellectual level gradually decreased and became no higher than the average level of their peers.
Americans say about intelligence: “Use it or lose it” - use it, or you will lose it. You need to constantly train your brain.
Myth three
Only communication with adults develops a child. This statement is true for babies. Yes, a child learns to speak and think by communicating with adults. His parents explain to him the meaning of new words, teach him new expressions, and correct him when he pronounces something incorrectly. And babies left to their own devices, twins, the same age, whom their parents leave for a long time in each other’s company, begin to lag behind their peers in mental development.
But later, during school years, communication with peers is just as necessary as communication with adults. During the presidency of John Kennedy in the United States, a situation arose that scientists did not fail to take advantage of. Kennedy decided to merge schools for black and white children. Before this, the children of white and black Americans studied separately. The white parents of the state of Georgia - descendants of South American planters - were categorically against such an innovation. They stopped sending their children to school, and the schools closed for two years. The children, and they were mostly from quite prosperous, wealthy families, studied with hired teachers at home. When the conflict was settled two years later and the children returned to school, it turned out that their IQ (in the USA the level of intelligence of schoolchildren is constantly measured) was significantly lower than the IQ of children from other states who did not interrupt their studies at school and continued to communicate with their peers. And this backlog was eliminated only after 4 years.
Myth four
To get a smart child, you need to develop him logical thinking. Employees of the Department of Psychogenetics, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University, conducted long-term observation of the development of intelligence of a group of people from 6 years of age to 24 years. And we saw that the level of logical thinking was higher among those teenagers and young people who, at the age of 6, were distinguished by rich visual and figurative thinking.
So don’t rush to solve logic problems with preschoolers. Children need to develop imagination, imagination, creative thinking, compose, draw, play with them more. Play is a very important stage in a child’s development. Our famous psychologist, researcher of the world of childhood D. B. Elkonin said: if a child does not play enough in preschool age, this will affect its further development.
Myth fifth
People of different nations differ in intelligence. In the United States, the intelligence of representatives of the white and black races was constantly studied and compared. And it used to always turn out that whites had an average IQ of about 15 points higher. From this they concluded that blacks are a genetically defective race. But more recent research has shown that the cause of differences in IQ levels is not genes, but environment. And 15 points is a typical difference in the level of intelligence of privileged segments of the population and groups with limited rights, regardless of nationality. When the level of intelligence of representatives of black and white groups, equal in position in society, education, income, the number of children in the family, and the spiritual values of their parents, was determined, it turned out that they had the same IQ.
And in Germany, the intelligence of children from mixed marriages and children of ethnic Germans was compared. And also there were no differences in single social groups.
By the way
American scientist J.R. Flynn calculated that during the second half of the twentieth century, the level of intelligence of all inhabitants of the planet increased by about 20 points. We have become smarter. This is explained by the improvement of living conditions, the development of healthcare, changes in the nutritional structure: we began to eat more proteins and vitamins... And our rich information environment: the number of educated people is increasing, the general awareness of the population is growing.
Our information
Philosophers understand intelligence as the ability to think and rationally understand the world. Psychologists interpret this term more broadly: including not only logical thinking, but also the ability to learn quickly, find a way out of problematic situations, and accumulate practical experience.
Mormon experience. The intellectual level of children from large families also greatly depends on the education and social status of their parents. In educated families where children are taught, the level of intelligence in the first four is no lower than that of their peers from single-child and small-child families. And only the fifth could be worse. Apparently, our parents no longer have enough strength for the fifth. IN large families, where the parents themselves do not shine with either intelligence or education, a decline in intelligence is already observed in the second child, not to mention all subsequent ones.
However, in large families of Mormons and Quakers, who traditionally are very involved with their children, the intelligence of their heirs does not decrease, regardless of what age they were born.
The life of every person begins with the fusion of two germ cells, maternal and paternal gametes containing chromosomes. Chromosomes carry genes, and each of them has its own set; they are redistributed randomly, forming new combinations. This is how we turn out to be different from each other!
A modern American researcher, one of the leading experts in the field of behavioral genetics, Robert Plomin, argues that each of us is a unique genetic experiment that will never be repeated. Even the probability that children of the same parents will receive the same set of genes is equal to one chance in 64 trillion possibilities. The exception is twins, but even there there is no 100% match in genetic makeup.
Not so long ago, there was still an opinion that health was transmitted through the maternal line, and intelligence through the paternal line, but the inquisitive minds of scientists did not stop at research. And here are some interesting conclusions they received: it has been proven that among women the average level of intelligence prevails, and among men there are often deviations in both directions. Why is this happening?
It turns out that scientists conducted the first large-scale genetic study on this matter and came to the conclusion that the power of intelligence is inherited through the mother, and not the father, as previously thought.
SO GENDER STEREOTYPES THAT HAVE EXISTED FOR LONG CENTURIES ARE NOW SUPPOSED TO DISAPPEAR.
It is the mother's genes, as it turns out, that are directly responsible for the development of the cerebral cortex, and the father's for the development of the limbic system. In other words, you took your intellect from your mother, and your typical emotional state from your father.
Moreover, some other studies have shown that people inherit their mother's intelligence because intelligence genes are located on the X chromosome.
The genes that “transmit” the gifts of intelligence by inheritance are located on the X chromosomes. Women have two such chromosomes (XX), while men have only one (XY), so the genes responsible for intelligence are more active in women, and a genius father can pass on his high IQ to his daughter, but not to his son.
Intelligence is transmitted along the X chromosome. If a daughter is born, then the intelligence from the genius father will definitely be passed on to her genes along with the same X chromosome, which determines her gender. After all, she will have two X chromosomes: one is the paternal one, and the second is one of the maternal ones. Therefore, sons who have shown remarkable abilities and talents owe only to their mother for this gift!
But there are other factors
Recently, researchers from the University of Ulm in Germany discovered that genetics is not the only reason for advanced intelligence. Other factors also influence whether you are smart or not.
The main additional factor is degree of attachment to mother, especially before the age of two. Children who regularly played complex games that required symbol recognition with them later grew into smarter adults than most of their peers.
The second factor is love. When children under 13 had their emotional needs met almost completely, their hippocampus produced 10% more cells than those who were emotionally distant from their mother.
People have been studying the topic of intelligence for a long time. The mind is a complex set of features that largely determine the individuality of each person. Intelligent people often hear that their abilities are a gift from God. On the other hand, less fortunate individuals claim that they have not had the opportunity to develop their intelligence. How are things really going? How true is the theory of heredity of intelligence?
The role of genes
It has been proven that people have 15 million paired DNA nucleic bases that distinguish one person from another. They are very important.
According to scientists, genetics plays an important role in the formation of intelligence - inheritance occurs in more than 50% of cases. This conclusion is supported by various studies conducted in recent decades, focusing mainly on twins. Scientists have found that children who did not live with their biological parents from birth are very similar to them in terms of intelligence. In these situations, the influence of the environment is secondary; adopted children are not intellectually similar to their adoptive parents.
But we are still talking about 50% of cases. What if genes are not responsible for the intelligence of the other 50% of people? How then is intelligence transmitted from parents to children? To answer this question, scientists are looking for specific genes responsible for the heritability of intelligence. They found that hundreds, perhaps thousands of genes are involved in this process. Each of them is involved in a certain, sometimes minimal way, but despite this, it is extremely important. Recent research has identified genes from a large group that explain an additional 5% of the variance in intelligence testing. There is still 45% left.
Moving forward, the researchers are coming to other interesting conclusions. For example, the influence of genetic factors on intelligence has been shown to increase with age. While in children inheritance occurs in approximately 20%, at the age of about 10 years this amount is already 40%, in adulthood – up to 60%. Consequently, the inheritance of intelligence from parents occurs simultaneously with the ability to gain knowledge and experience.
Factors that determine IQ level
A specific category of genes – “conditional” – is responsible for the heredity of intelligence. But they are effective only if they come from the mother, and extremely rarely from the father. These genes predetermine thinking abilities, inherited mainly from the mother. They are the answer to the question from whom intelligence is transmitted to the child. In laboratory tests conducted by psychogeneticists on mice, it was found that individuals with large amounts of maternal genes had enlarged heads and brains, but they had small bodies. Mice with increased amounts of their father's genes had small brains but large bodies.
Experts isolated cells that contained only paternal or maternal genes in 6 parts of the mouse brain responsible for mental functions. The father's cells accumulated in parts involved in sexuality, aggression, and nutrition. Consequently, these qualities were inherited through the male line.
But this cerebral cortex lacked more advanced mental functions (thinking, speech). Because mouse brains are not human-like, scientists at the University of Glasgow, wondering whether intelligence is inherited, decided to take a different approach, working directly with humans.
Therefore, since 1994, they conducted a survey among almost 13,000 people (14-22 years old). Experts took into account their race, social status, financial situation. The results showed that these people had the same IQ as their mothers. Therefore, intelligence is transmitted through the female line.
But it has also been shown that genetics are not the only factor influencing intelligence levels. Heredity makes up only 40-60%, the remaining percentage belongs to the environment of residence and human development. But here, too, the role of the mother is important.
Intelligence develops mainly in children who have a strong bond with their mothers.
Scientists from the University of Washington have concluded that the close psychological bond between a child (son or daughter) and mother is an important factor in the growth of certain brain parts. This finding was documented in a 7-year study that included several mothers with their children.
Boys and girls who received emotional support had 10% larger hippocampi than children whose mothers were more psychologically distant.
Mindful mothers also strive to help their children solve problems and enable them to reach their full potential. Of course, there is no reason why these abilities cannot be passed on by fathers. The mind can develop “paternal” properties, such as intuition and emotions.
Origin of Intelligence
The bold idea that intelligence is inherited through the female line has its origins in ongoing research aimed at studying the question of where a child inherits intelligence. As New Scientist magazine writes, a group of German biologists first discovered that the average intelligence of men and women is approximately the same, but the former have a wider range of levels, among them there are more mentally retarded, but, at the same time, more geniuses.
Another remarkable fact is that children are more likely to inherit mental disorders from mothers than from fathers. 30 years ago, American biologist Robert Lehrke came to the conclusion that many “intelligence genes” are concentrated specifically on the female sex chromosome X.
This opinion was supported by Ulm University researchers W. Zechner and H. Heimister, who published the results of their work in the journal Trends in Genetics. According to them, ancient women, by choosing fathers for their children, activated an evolutionary process that led to the fundamental development of thinking, the growth of the human brain. Only thanks to them did people move away from others like themselves from the animal world.
IQ changes throughout life
But it should be said that IQ does not remain unchanged throughout a person’s life. The intelligence indicator varies depending on the environment in which he lives, upbringing, and education. Due to these effects, human IQ can fluctuate in both positive and negative directions. However, these fluctuations change IQ values in the order of ones, not tens. Those. We are not talking about significant changes.
If a child is born with a lower IQ, mental abilities can be partially acquired through good upbringing and education.
Inheriting IQ does not guarantee intelligent children
The fact that intelligence and IQ are largely hereditary is not a law that guarantees the birth of a child with above average intelligence from intelligent parents. Yes, he will have better prerequisites than a child born to 2 mentally retarded people. But IQ also depends on other factors and genes that children may take from their parents. Thus, the high intelligence of both parents does not guarantee a significant level of intelligence in children.
Likewise, just because both parents have average or low IQs doesn't mean they can't produce a modern-day Einstein. Inheritance of intelligence is a complex process that has not been sufficiently studied to date. Therefore, it is impossible to say in advance whether a child will have an above or below average intelligence level.
Is the heredity of intelligence overestimated?
Mathematics proves that there are at least 2 types of infinity: actual and potential. Potential infinity is greater than actual infinity.” The intellect of any person can be associated with a smaller, actual infinity: it is limited, but at the same time potentially infinite. There are no stupid people.
Some theories claim that intelligence is largely (about 50-80%) innate, inherited. What does it mean? In practice, not much. Inheritance does not appear in a vacuum, but in the environment, in the context of education. A person who is “innately stupid” in one environment may be “innately smart” in another.
How is this possible? Imagine beautiful rose in the garden. Are beautiful flowers the result of genetics or environment? If both factors act separately, this can be easily tested. Plant a cactus next to the roses, which will rot in the spring, at most, survive until the fall and freeze. The same environment with a different result suggests the influence of a genetic factor, you might think.
But that's not true. By repeating the experiment not in your garden, but in a subtropical climate, you will get the completely opposite result: a beautiful blooming cactus and dried roses. Therefore, genes and environment (upbringing) influence not separately, but in combination.
Taking good care of a plant can only partially improve the situation in an unacceptable environment. In the same way, endless IQ courses will not turn a fool into a genius without identifying the cause of the obstacle or inhibition. In the context of our civilization, this factor does not lie in a lack of water, nutrients, or heat, but in destructive internal processes - in the body, brain, and thinking style of each person.
One of the most important factors is stress and the associated physical activation, suitable for fight or flight, but unsuitable for intellectual action. Stress causes a number of physiological processes that, among other things, reduce blood flow in the brain, stimulate the activation of nerve centers designed for instantaneous reactions; reflexive reactions, impulsiveness, and emotions predominate. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex, essential for typical human abilities, becomes muted.
The role of stress in everyday life is well illustrated by Porges' polyvagal theory - a theory of 3 different responses to stress associated with the activity of the vagus nerve (nervus vagus). When at rest, the vagus nerve sends signals to the brain that everything is fine; a person perceives his surroundings well, feels comfortable, everything in his body works properly.
If stress increases above a certain level, a person “switches” to an evolutionarily senior mode and reacts with sympathetic activity. The body, for several hundred years of civilization, has not realized that most of today's stressors and threats require a completely different response than those that humans have achieved over millions of years of evolution. Under stress, digestion slows down, breathing and heart rate speed up, sweating increases - a person with all available means prepares for the physical activity necessary to fight or escape.
Discovering that neither fight nor escape will help, a person falls to the historically oldest stage, immobilized. With no way to escape or win, the last thing left is to give up and hope that the threat will pass. In this or the previous state, the mind is not at its best, intellectual and social capabilities are limited.
A significant part of human stupidity at some point is not due to an abstract "lack of IQ" but to a limited ability to use one's thinking. Sensitivity to stress plays a major role in this. The result is a rather banal one: calm down and you will become wiser.
