Detached Thinking Exercise
Using Detached Observation, here are some purposes of why humans have built-in Approach Avoid (No particular order - Getting to the basics of its existence). As a thinking exercise, reflect on what you feel are the purposes of our built-in Approach/Avoid systems.
Survive - Using Approach Avoid behavior allows us to survive by approaching beneficial inputs (food/shelter) and avoiding harmful inputs (predators/toxins).
Energy - By avoiding unnecessary risks and conserving energy, we increase our chances of survival.
Adapt - Approach avoid behavior allows us to adapt to new or changing environments by exploring potential resources while minimizing threats.
Find Mates - Better use of approach avoid allows us to find mates, reproduce, develop families, and pass on genes.
Natural Selection - History favored the individuals and groups that displayed better use of approach avoid behaviors - Thus leading to certain behaviors that were passed on to the next generation.
Social - Approach Avoid behavior plays a crucial role in navigating social hierarchies, forming alliances, and avoiding conflict within groups and members of outgroups.
Learning and Memory - We learn and put to memory the behaviors that will suit us in future similar situations.
Resource Competition - Approach Avoid helps us compete for limited resources with proper energy use.
Cognitive Development - We seek to learn better ways for future approach avoid behaviors to increase our chances to survive (physical and within culture).
Communicate - We learn to use approach and avoid communication to best navigate our surroundings.
Decision Conflict - We learn to use approach and avoid when multiple decisions are occurring at the same time.
Group - We use approach avoid to develop cohesion in our groups to survive.
