Pair Bonding In Relation To Maslow’s Pyramid

by T. Allan Christopher
Originally Published via WiW, December 21, 2010

Recently I created this post. Now I want to go into further detail.

Did you know that love is not much more than chemical dependence? We can debate endlessly about opinions of love being associated with the soul or spirit. That love is an emotion, and emotions make us who we are, and that this is somehow tied to more than just brain chemistry. I prefer to look at it from a strictly scientific viewpoint, as I believe that is all that exists. Don’t mistake that for being a purely clinical viewpoint. I believe we feel what we feel. I just don’t add any hocus-pocus to that determination. Those who disagree should feel free to boycott all anti-depressants and psychiatric medications, as there is clearly something wrong with their soul, not their brain.

Let me introduce you to a mutual friend of ours, with a short summation from WikiPedia:

Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone that acts primarily as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Also known as alpha-hypophamine (α–hypophamine), oxytocin has the distinction of being the very first polypeptide hormone to be sequenced and synthesized biochemically by Vincent du Vigneaud et al. in 1953.^[1]

Oxytocin is best known for roles in female reproduction: 1) it is released in large amounts after distension of the cervixand uterus during labor, and 2) after stimulation of the nipples, facilitating birth and breastfeeding. Recent studies have begun to investigate oxytocin’s role in various behaviors, including orgasm, social recognition, pair bonding, anxiety, and maternal behaviors.^[2] For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the “love hormone.” ^[3]

The most prudent point for this writing, is the very last thing stated in that summation, “it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Love hormone’.” The use of the term ‘Pair Bond’ is to generally describe monogamous, or mostly monogamous, relationships, both in humans and other mammals. Neurobiologicaly , Oxytocin plays a role in Pair, Maternal, Paternal, and even Human-animal bonding.

Maslow’s Pyramid: Improve Your Relationship!

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

by T. Allan Christopher
Originally Published via WiW, December 20, 2010

What you see above is Maslow’s Hierarchy, or Pyramid, of Needs. It is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943. And while it mostly relates to describing stages of human growth, I find that it makes a lot of sense for relationships.

The higher up the pyramid you can manage to take your relationship, the more solid it will be. I think this relates to friendships, and on into marriage. Let’s diagnose each level.

Physiological: This is pretty simple. Before you can manage any sort of relationship, you need to be free and healthy. Able to survive and maintain your status as Human. Be sheltered, clothed, and able to eat and breath.

We’ll also include in this topic, that both parties involved in the relationship, whatever it may be, need to know and understand what that relationship is, and agree to it together.

The “Big Three Oh” – Something To Dread Or Embrace?

by Michelle Dee
Originally Published via PD, November 24, 2010

In life you learn many lessons.  Some are just mere short term experience, and others can take years. One in particular I had to learn was that the big three-oh (turning 30) did not mean the end of my youth, fun in life, or hope. I had to go on quite a long journey to figure this lesson out, though.

One day, I was riding down Interstate 64, sitting in the back seat of a raspberry colored 96 Chevy Cavalier.  My mother was in the passenger seat and my step-father was driving. I was seventeen years-old.  I had always teased my mother, who was thirty-seven  at the time, about being old.  This was one of those times. I mentioned that there was nothing to look forward to after thirty except retirement, and then sometimes I would jokingly add, “unless you want to run for President at thirty-five”.  This particular time, though, my mother turned and said to me, “You know I had some of the best times in my life after I turned thirty.”

Fast forward twelve years.  It was a cold night in late January 2008.  My family was sound asleep and my kittens were thumping about on my new hardwood laminate floors.  I lay in bed thinking “Oh my, I am twenty nine.  This is the end of my youth!”

Are Mood Altering Drugs “Mind Control?”

by Kyle Munkittrick
Originally Published by DM, April 7, 2011

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner‘s dead-tree forebear) opens with Deckard arguing with his wife about whether or not to alter her crummy attitude with the “mood organ.” She could, if she so desired, dial her mood so that she was happy and content. Philip K. Dick worried that the ability to alter our mood would remove the authenticity and immediacy of our emotions. Annalee Newitz at io9 seems to be worried mood manipulations will enable a form of social control.

The worry comes from recent developments in neuro-pharmaceuticals. Drugs are already on the market that allow for mood manipulation. The Guardian‘s Amelia Hill notes that drugs like Prozac and chemicals like oxytocin have the ability to make some people calmer, more empathetic, and more altruistic. Calm, empathetic, and altruistic people are far more likely to act morally than anxious, callous, and selfish people. But does that mean mood manipulation going to let us force people to be moral? And if it does, is that a good thing? Is it moral to force people to be moral?

Did Wireless Electricity Ever Exist?

by Alan Bellows
Originally published by DI,  July 10, 2007

Tesla’s Tower of Power

In 1905, a team of construction workers in the small village of Shoreham, New York labored to erect a truly extraordinary structure. Over a period of several years the men had managed to assemble the framework and wiring for the 187-foot-tall Wardenclyffe Tower, in spite of severe budget shortfalls and a few engineering snags. The project was overseen by its designer, the eccentric-yet-ingenious inventor Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943). Atop his tower was perched a fifty-five ton dome of conductive metals, and beneath it stretched an iron root system that penetrated more than 300 feet into the Earth’s crust. “In this system that I have invented, it is necessary for the machine to get a grip of the earth,” he explained, “otherwise it cannot shake the earth. It has to have a grip… so that the whole of this globe can quiver.”

Though it was far from completion, it was rumored to have been tested on several occasions, with spectacular, crowd-pleasing results. The ultimate purpose of this unique structure was to change the world forever.

Tesla’s inventions had already changed the world on several occasions, most notably when he developed modern alternating current technology. He had also won fame for his victory over Thomas Edison in the well-publicized “battle of currents,” where he proved that his alternating current was far more practical and safe than Edison-brand direct current. Soon his technology dominated the world’s developing electrical infrastructure, and by 1900 he was widely regarded as America’s greatest electrical engineer. This reputation was reinforced by his other major innovations, including the Tesla coil, the radio transmitter, and fluorescent lamps.

Moon And Meaning

by T. Allan Christopher
Originally Published via WiW, November 23, 2010

Last night, as I lay in bed with my wife, Deanna, I noticed a very bright Moon through the window-shade. So I opened the shade up. The full moon had been just the night before, but this Waning Gibbous Moon looked as full as can be. It was so bright, and awe-inspiring.

There were clouds out in force last night. A front had moved in, and we dropped 40 degrees over a few hours. At differing elevations the clouds were various densities, and moving in disparate directions. At one moment the moon would be in clear sky, and the next it would be behind various layerings of cloud.

Describing such a thing with words is not easy to do. I was wishing like hell that my camera was still functional last night.

Laying there holding my wife and witnessing such a sight was more peaceful than I could probably ever describe. It did lead me down a philosophical path though, one which is quite dark in comparison to the Zen that was permeating through me. Two bleak philosophies, actually.

What are we? Humanity I mean. When it comes down to it, are we not much more than a plague upon Earth? A virus. We take and destroy, and offer nothing to our planet. Perhaps in death we make a good fertilizer. Aside from that, what have we to offer?