At a fundamental level, we process that which we perceive as either beneficial or detrimental, enabling the selection of an appropriate course of action. However, if we perceive that our response will suffice, we then initiate a protective reaction. The line between a proactive or protective response is based on our perceived ability, or capacity, to adapt to situational demands. This resilience to challenge is called our Adaptive Capacity, which directly correlates to our experience of feeling safe. One way this can be described is that we have an energy budget. If the requirements of the demands that we anticipate are perceived as within our energetic resources we respond very differently than when these demands are perceived as needing energetic resources that we cannot access.
Humans beings experience this as stress. When what we perceive (either beneficial or detrimental) falls within the scope of our perceived ability to adapt, we respond proactively to the demand. This type of stress is known as Eustress, which we experience as a challenge. When what we perceive (either beneficial or detrimental) falls outside the scope of our perceived ability to adapt, we react protectively to the demand. This type of stress is known as Distress.
In Human Beings, the mechanism which determines the most appropriate intent and then chooses to respond either proactively or react protectively is known as our Ego. Ego continually looks for patterns in the sensory inputs, information from the more foundational cognition (reflexes, drives, instincts, emotions, etc.), and from its library of experience, evaluating whether its situation requires a Eustress response or Distress reaction. Our awareness of ourselves must function seamlessly with our Ego, and consequently, Eustress and Distress express in how we perceive ourselves in our current situation as “I am happy.” and “I am anxious.”. There is further discussion of the nature of cognition is this essay:
COGNITION AND THE EVOLVING BRAIN
The process of evolution of Life can be viewed as Life’s drive to increase its Adaptive Capacity. This is elegantly elucidated in this Charles Darwin quote:
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
This quote is inlaid in brass on the floor of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences.
QUALITIES OF EUSTRESS – ACTION
When challenged, if we perceive an accessible path to a beneficial outcome, we respond with Eustress. Curiosity, a sense of adventure, playfulness and competitive sports are examples of Eustress. Even a Fight/Flight response can be Eustress, in which we attack or flee while perceiving a successful outcome, while possibly experiencing a sense of euphoria.
A key attribute of Eustress is that it correlates to learning. Without challenges, we do not have the opportunity to discover new things, and so this type of stress is required for our development – we actually thrive on it. Boredom is an instinctual level impulse to initiate a Eustress response. However, once the stress level crosses the threshold from Eustress to Distress, learning ceases as we react protectively.
PLAY
Play is an excellent example of Eustress, where an adventurous, engaging attitude moves us into challenges within which we learn new skills and expand our boundaries. Here is a paper discussing play:
PLAY
QUALITIES OF DISTRESS – PROTECTION
We sense, and then based on our model of how things work, respond. If that which we sense overwhelms our ability to respond, we have an innate ability to limit our sensory inputs to a subset of what is being sensed. The mechanism of regulation of the sensory portals is embedded deep in our instinctual and emotional circuitry and enables filtering sensory inputs to select those that are considered most relevant for our survival (consider being in a speeding car). When this occurs we do not interact with the environment in ways that enable us to learn and develop proficiencies, instead, in extreme Distress, our cognition and physiology may “freeze”, a state sometimes described as feigning death. We may learn something from recapitulating the experience, but often these experiences get hashed over in our minds multiple times without resolution, a feature of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.
The section on Protection has several articles related to this discussion:
PROTECTION
/RESILIENCE
Our Adaptive Capacity can be viewed from the perspective of Young’s Modulus, which is the mathematical relationship between the amount of strain on a material and the point at which it deforms. This point of deformation is the point at which we move from Eustress to Distress.
YOUNG’S MODULUS
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
It is important to note that these reactions are not programmed for our built environment, but rather the native surroundings of our ancestors. They, therefore, do not always produce the survival advantage they originally did, and may, in fact, make one less safe (consider panic). To this writer, it seems crucial that the sensory triggers that challenge our perception of our adaptive capacity become elevated in consideration as a factor in Civil Engineering project design, if we to avoid building out our surroundings in ways that facilitate triggering distress for the inhabitants.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT