Inner Mammal Institute

Enjoy more dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin by knowing how they work in nature. Founder @lbreuning

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Get your 5-Day Happy Chemical Jumpstart!
One email message on each of 5 chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin, and cortisol.
You find your power over these chemicals when you know how they work in the state of nature!
https://t.co/WZMglc96lh

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

How I Escaped Political Correctness, And You Can Too
read a sample, hear an audio review, or buy:
https://t.co/Njf89lDE7c
Now available in Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese!

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT
We love to hear that, and yet it makes you feel like a powerless victim in the long run. Blaming is like a drug, feeling good now but hurting you later. To bury the hurt, you take more of the blame drug. Here's a list of all the currently popular blame games:
https://t.co/gxEiCF4oCh

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

HOW TO BREAK THE ICE WITH NEW PEOPLE
Remember that they are a mammal and so are you. Their mammal brain is doing the social comparison dance, just like your mammal brain. Digital nomads are always meeting new people, so I wrote 3 simple tips on this in Nomad Magazine is here. (I wasn't able to tell the full story about mammalian social hierarchies, but you guys will be able to read into it.)
https://t.co/fiPUULP53s
If you're curious about the digital nomad world, read the whole magazine. Otherwise, my piece is on page 18.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

AGENCY
You deny your agency when you blame, yet blame has become the new normal.
When you scroll online, blame the algorithm.
When you eat too much, blame food producers.
When you drink too much, blame “the culture.”
When you spend too much, blame corporate marketing.
When you fight with people, blame their “narcissism.”
When you use illegal drugs, blame the war on drugs.
When you abuse legal drugs, blame the healthcare system.
When you don’t do your work, blame the boss or the teacher.
When you’re broke, blame “the system.”
When you make bad choices, blame your parents.
When you choose bad company, blame your “vulnerability.”
When you get caught breaking the rules, blame the rules.
When you’re sad, blame your genes and “our society.”
But it IS their fault, you may insist. Why should I take the blame?
Here's how it hurts you, and how to turn it around:
https://t.co/gxEiCF4oCh

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Take Back Your Agency - in 3 simple steps
Today's culture denies your agency.
It always says "it's not your fault"
You like to hear that, but it hurts in the long run.
It makes you a powerless victim of forces outside your control.
This piece explains 3 steps to build your agency :
1. Focus on your next step
2. Celebrate your dopamine
3 . Repeat
https://t.co/zZANNolNsl

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

SELF-INTEREST
It's normal for animals. They focus on meeting their own needs.
Today's culture has made self-interest taboo, so it has spun animal research in a false way. You are supposed to believe that animals are altruistic and self-denying.
You are supposed to focus on the needs of others, as defined by high-status individuals. You are not supposed to focus on your own needs, so you feel guilty if you do. You cover it up. You attack self-interest in others and ignore your own. This is not good for anyone's mental health.
For better insight into our natural animal impulses, here's a FREE pdf of my book,
I, Mammal: How to Make Peace With the Animal Urge for Social Power
https://t.co/3cNKkmskuV
It's available in French, German, Polish and Russian.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

"The Kid Whisperer"
tells me how to manage bad behavior by systematically rewarding good behavior. This may sounds obvious, but he explains why it's hard to do. Imagine if you're a school bus driver and there's bad behavior on the bus... what do you do?
https://t.co/0ypF813fMb

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Our brain is wired by experience.

Why is it so hard for people to accept this?
"Experts" avoid the truth in every way possible, blaming genes and "our society" for every trait and ignoring the obvious role of the inputs you experience.
For example, no child ever learned to speak Hungarian unless they were exposed to the language, regardless of their genes. No child is born with any language, and every child learns what they're exposed to.
If a child is "good at music," people rush to credit genes or "privilege," and ignore their exposure to music in their first 7 years. Every famous "musical genius" had tremendous exposure in their early years. It's the same for every other "talent" or skill. Read biographies and you can prove it to yourself.
Instead of worrying about this, just honor the wiring you have. Find the positive side of it and develop that.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Seen the Mafia Game?
It suggests that bad guys have an INFORMATION advantage. They know what other bad guys are doing, which gives them an edge.
True, but as a person of Sicilian heritage, I want to point out that mafiosi get their biggest advantage from their willingness to use violence. Ordinary people cooperate with mafias to save their lives and their children's lives. It's hard to do otherwise, so individuals cannot win against mafias on their own. Societies should unite against mafias, but they don't because anyone who acknowledges what is happening becomes a target. Classic bullying. Very sad to see organized crime win in so many places. The mafia game may be fun, but real-world mafias are nothing to joke about. #mafia #mafiagame

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

My 3-day Quest for the BEST tapas in Seville...
Dopamine drives that urge to optimize. How to make peace with it:
https://t.co/HPmHAwpROJ

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

The Kid Whisperer says:

"Every family needs to be a functional hierarchy with the parent or parents at the top of that hierarchy. Yes, kids should have choices, but those choices must be within limits set by parents. Parents are in charge. Kids are not.

"Kids who never learn to be a part of a functional hierarchy tend to have terrible problems participating in other hierarchies: schools, places of business, houses of worship, other families’ homes, etc. Not recognizing and cooperating with those above them in a hierarchy will cause tremendous suffering over time for these people."

Read Scott Ervin's full piece:
How to Reteach Kids About Their Place in the World
https://t.co/OL03jB3OWP

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Student Misbehavior?
It's an epidemic because adults fear saying no to a child in today's culture.
This guy has created a great method for rewiring dysfunctional behavior. It systematically rewards desired behavior rather than undesired behavior. That may sound obvious, but adults tend to reward bad behavior by giving it attention. This method revolves around giving attention to the kids who are NOT acting out. Sounds simple, but hard to do. That's why school districts hire him to train teachers. It's the first method I've heard that I really trust. Hear me interview "The Kid Whisperer" for the Neuroplasticians Hub at:
https://t.co/f5ygc3SKN8

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Dating can be rewarding...

When I was dating (28 years ago 😀), I looked for the positive. Dating is a drag, of course. To make it rewarding, I told myself how nice it is that another person is giving you a glimpse into their psyche. That's rare in daily life, so it's valuable, whether or not there's a future connection.

This podcaster asked me about dating... near the end...

The Happiness Myth: Why Your Brain is Designed for Ups and Downs

https://t.co/noXQXvChUS

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Life Is Like a Bar of Tapas
You can enjoy healthy dopamine though you never know what you're gonna get
My trip to Seville was a great opportunity to build my dopamine-management skils.

https://t.co/HPmHAwpROJ

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Why did neolithic humans work so hard to line up these 3,000 standing boulders in Carnac, France?
My recent visit really left me wondering why people put their effort into these "megaliths." Nothing is known, though the museum (Maison des Megaliths) is interesting.
Did it help them tame anxiety? Was it voluntary or compulsory? Was it to scare away invaders? Was it the inspiration for Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent?
One thing for sure: when people built pyramids and cathedrals, they were acting on a much older practice.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

I visited real neolithic sites recently and it was a painful reminder of the human willingness to move heavy rocks. Why did they do it?
These rocks are amazingly huge. (I got in the picture to give you a sense of scale.) They're believed to be the burial place of one person. The site is La Roche aux Fées in France. That means "fairy rock" - the legend is that fairies put the rocks there. It's interesting to know that these rocks were always known - never buried like most other sites. They were used in different worship practices over the centuries.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

Feeling defensive?
This is in your brain.
Our defensiveness is easy to understand when you watch monkeys. Their constant social rivalry shows you why you're on guard against your fellow mammals. When you know this, you can stop taking it personally!

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

How to Tame Anxiety - Wednesday Webinar
"Neurotic" animals are cured by professional animal trainers with an interesting technique that I'll explain in my talk to the Neuroplasticians Hub.
You're invited!
It's at 1pm New York time, May 27.
For the zoom link, email me at [email protected].
How can humans use this technique?
We'll discuss and answer all your questions.

[Inner Mammal Institute @innermammal]

@LGlobalAction Thanks. Here's some special advice for your group:
herd animals are not always with the herd. They choose to go their own way a lot. They stick with the herd when there's a threat. Our warm, fuzzy ideas about animal groups are false.

[Loneliness Global Action @LGlobalAction]

📖 Read to Be Understood

Your feelings aren’t random; they’re patterns your brain learned.

In Habits of a Happy Brain, Loretta Breuning shows that connection begins when you reshape those patterns.

#ReadToBeUnderstood #LonelinessAction #Neuroscience