Neuroplasticity and survival

On the difference between traumatization and specialization

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and rewire its neural connections, enabling it to adapt and function in ways that differ from its prior state. This process can occur in response to learning new skills, experiencing environmental changes, recovering from injuries, or adapting to sensory or cognitive deficits.

If we consider "survival of the fittest" as one of the most considered and long-standing theory of survival, then neuroplasticity should be an extremely important feature for the survival of the individuals. Neuroplasticity is not just characteristic of the human brain, it is a fundamental characteristic that allows individuals to overcome traumas, challenges in life, to restart their lives after failure, to increase their morale when everything seems falling apart. It might be the ultimate fundamental survival characteristic of the brain.

I was inspired to write this essay after wondering about a challenging and difficult moment in my life. I am considering two aspects here: the aspect of a challenging situation in one's career and that of a challenging situation in one's personal romantic relationship. Individuals with a low level of neuroplasticity might find it very hard to adapt to new environmental changes: like the loss of the career and the break-up from a long-term relationship. One important aspect to consider: the loss of a career relates to the survival of the individual, the other aspect, the loss of a long-term romantic relationship relates to the survival of the species.

Are our societies improving or losing their levels of neuroplasticity?

That's a very important question to ask when there are impending economic crisis, armed conflicts and structural changes in the workforce. How are people going to handle the situation? How are they going to adapt to changes in the labor workforce, changes in the environment, changes in culture?

People who have a low level of neuroplasticity might be the people who are more at risk. Such kind of people might find it very hard to make a change in the course of their career and to overcome the trauma of the loss of their relationships. The low levels of neuroplasticity might be linked with depression and PTSD. Depression and PTSD are costly illnesses in our society. Going to depression every time that there is a radical change in lifestyle is definitely costly and dangerous for survival. People who have a very high level of neuroplasticity might instead be very able to fit in in new situations and survive difficult challenges and life-threatening situations. The high levels of neuroplasticity might help them to not undergo in traumatic phases after big changes in their life and adapt easily to a new lifestyle: to a change in their career and a change in their romantic partner.

Let's for example, imagine a low neuroplasticity individual who loses his long-term profession because of the AI revolution. Such individual might very easily become traumatized because of the experience and they might undergo very deep financial losses that can hinder their ability of survival. A high neuroplasticity individual who has undergone the same challenge might very easily adapt to the new environment by reinventing themselves into some new career in order to survive. The same logic could be applied to romantic relationships. A low neuroplasticity individual might find it very hard to find a new partner because their brain is wired to the old lifestyle and the old patterns their last romantic partner offered to them. Such individual might probably have the tendency to search for romantic partners who are similar to their last romantic partner and offer them a similar lifestyle.

What influences the levels of neuroplasticity in the course of a modern individual's life? Is neuroplasticity innate in people or is it a characteristic that can be influenced by life factors?

Personally, I have a theory that neuroplasticity might be influenced very much by early and late-stage developmental phases that in our modern society are linked with education. People dedicate a very long time of their lives and the so-called best years of their lives to education. Education shapes people's brains by offering them knowledge and training. Is the level of specialization offered by education linked with the levels of neuroplasticity? Does a very specialized education increase or decrease the levels of neuroplasticity? It seems intuitive that high levels of specialization might decrease the levels of neuroplasticity. People who have been trained their whole life to do. only a few tasks might be at risk for survival in case of radical changes because of their low levels of neuroplasticity.

Let's imagine a society with a big clusters of very highly specialized people who because of structural changes in the workforce lose their jobs. Those people in the clusters who didn't develop enough neuroplasticity will find it hard to adapt to the new environment, therefore they might become at risk of survival. Such society might become an endangered society because of the difficulties that its people find to adapt to changes.

A specialized individual should be an individual who is able to do many different tasks but is specialized into doing very well a few tasks. An individual who is able to only do a few tasks but cannot adapt to changes, like doing very different tasks at the same time, should not be considered a specialized individual, but a traumatized individual. Trauma is not simply about psychological suffering, trauma is a broader concept that involves concepts such as patterns of behavior. People who follow constantly only a few patterns of behaviors and commit only a few tasks have a neuroplasticity similar to that of people who have been traumatized for some reason. What if our systems of education traumatize us? Isn't it important to realize, to consider for extensive research the levels of trauma that education might cause into individuals? What if our modern systems of education are creating traumatized individuals instead of specialized individuals? To understand such issue, it is important to observe the behaviors of people after they undergo a radical change in their career. How do they react to strong changes? After a job loss, do they adapt to new challenges or situations or do they succumb to depression or to a never-ending search for a similar job, by risking their finances and survival in the meantime?

The previous considerations in this essay are related to the survival of the individuals. Let's consider another issue: the continuation of the species. Low levels of neuroplasticity might be linked with sexual and romantic fetishisms. What if neuroplasticity is linked with the levels of sexual adaptability? We might suggest that an individual with low neuroplasticity might have a low level of sexual adaptability: they might find sexually acceptable only a few patterns of appearances. If such hypothesis is true, a society with low levels of neuroplasticity might have an endangered future. Such kind of society might find acceptable only certain body and facial characteristics for the continuation of their kind. They might become so obsessed with specific connotations that they might prefer staying single and unmarried for many years until they find their "perfect" idealistic romantic partner. In such a society there might be a strong competition towards people with idealistic traits and such an outcome can lead to many unmarried and single people. Such kind of society might become a childless society. A highly neuroplastic individual might adapt very quickly to changes. After a breakup from a long-term romantic partner, they might have an acceptance for very broad characteristics, therefore their probability to remain single might be low. The links between sexual fluidity and neuroplasticity might be an interesting field of research that can serve many answers to current modern life questions.

The same issue of traumatization vs specialization can be taken into consideration in the case of romantic and sexual relationships. Romantic and sexual relationships can cause trauma into individuals. Traumas can hinder their levels of adaptability. In this modern world sexual fetishes are very common. Some individuals have their favorite sexual fetishes and they can adapt to different kind of sexual situations. That's a positive thing for one's health and the continuation of their own kind. Other individuals instead, have a very exclusive approach to their fetishes: either they meet such kind of preferences in real life or nothing. Such kind of tendencies hinders the chances of reproduction. Are this last kind of individuals to be considered sexually and mentally healthy or can we suggest that such kind of obsessive preferences are a result of past trauma? All of these considerations are important.