Try getting a teenager to read a quiet, reflective book, and you’ll probably get the response, “It’s boring. Nothing happens.” Teens today prefer stories that keep the adrenalin pumping, whether action packed thrillers or dark dramas which have proliferated in recent years. Explanations for the rise in popularity of dystopian books range from theories of escapism to comfort. It has been suggested that teens are drawn to these stories because their own worlds are falling apart. And books which portray a broken future or the darkness of our times can be comforting by deflecting from our own real world problems. Another way of looking at it is that a world reduced to darkness and light simplifies the complexity of modern times, putting the events of our own lives into perspective.
The truth is young people don’t need to turn to a book of fiction to discover the dark side. Our history as a people is rife with events that are as atrocious as anything invented in a work of fiction. Added to that, each day the media flashes in our faces real life tales of horror and violence. So what is it about a book? A book provides a safe format to explore the world and a side of darkness which has been with us since Adam and Eve. With most works of fiction there is a resolution that is satisfying on some level. At present on the world stage—there is no resolution apart from the theory that we are approaching the end of the world. A book has an ending. You can step away from it. We cannot step away from our lives and we don’t know the ending. Nor can we jump ahead in time for a peek. So in that respect young people may be looking for comfort or escape in dystopian books. But that’s not the whole story. They are seeking drama in its fullest too. And behind that is a momentum that can be better explained by neuroscience than by sociological or psychological theories.
Brain development in children follows a fairly predictable path with the number of actual brain cells at its peak while a child is still safe within the womb. The biggest changes after birth are in the quantity and quality of interconnections between neurons. Just before the adolescent years there is an enormous growth of axons and dendrites much like branches on trees that burst forth each spring. And throughout adolescence these bushy neurons with their multitude of interconnections are pruned as a normal part of the maturation process, forming a roadmap of neural pathways which dictate behavior. The pruning and shaping of the brain happens by internal genetics and external environmental stimuli. Pathways exposed to more stimulation will thrive and grow, while those that are being fed less will become weaker. In pathways designed with feedback loops that allow for self-regulation, like the dopamine reward system or the stress response system, excess stimulation sets off a neurobiological cascade. Initially, the stimulation causes the neurons in the pathway to release a large amount of neurotransmitters (i.e. dopamine and adrenalin) at the connection between two neurons called a synapse. In order for the message to be sent, these neurotransmitters must cross the small space between the branches of the neurons and find a receptor to which they can bind. If a high level of stimulation continues, the body tries to rebalance the input by down-regulating or decreasing the receptors so that some of the neurotransmitters are not able to find a site to which they can bind, effectively decreasing the volume of the stimulation. This down regulation of receptors is responsible for the tolerance that develops in feedback loops. Once the receptors have decreased, it takes the release of more and more neurotransmitters to obtain the same effect.
The dopamine reward circuitry, one of many neurotransmitter feedback loops in the brain is particularly active during adolescence. Experiences that are novel, exciting and edgy fill the adolescent body with a dopamine derived feeling of euphoria and grandiosity. Because of this increased sensitivity to dopamine, teenagers are drawn to stimulation like bears to honey. And in today’s world there is no lack of stimulation. Technology and innovation have thrust us into a context in which information is being processed by the senses faster than the speed of light, setting off a neurobiological cascade, the consequences of which are reflected in conditions that effect society as a whole – obesity, materialism, anxiety and depression, chronic fatigue syndrome.
Fear, danger and excitement grab our attention because that is how the human body is wired to protect us. The autonomic nervous system composed of the smart vagus nerve, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system developed so that humans have an immediate, unconscious ability to assess danger and safety. We pay attention to scary things to stay alive. Ironically, the media outlets are chronically stimulating fear pathways in our brains and bodies so they too can stay alive. Lest this appear to be a win-win situation, we pay a huge price when safe relationships take a back seat to chronically stimulating our fear pathways as a way to feel alive and engaged in the world. With this imbalance, the sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways grow more and more powerful at the expense of the smart vagus nerve. This manifests as a decreased capacity to modulate fear when in a new, safe environment. We become deregulated, chronically afraid, chronically stressed and ultimately, physically ill.
Like anything else, darkness can become addictive when repetitively fed to a brain that craves stimulation. All addictive substances and experiences enter a dangerous feedback loop in the brain. The brain seeks relief from the overstimulating barrage of dopamine and decreases or down regulates the dopamine receptors. Unfortunately, the craving continues and despite the tolerance to dopamine the brain needs more and worse to get an emotional response. Meanwhile, the pathways in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain which deal with reflective responses shrink from neglect or understimulation so the capacity of the person to function in this camp is significantly reduced. Unfortunately, because real estate in the brain is limited, when we chronically stimulate addictive pathways, we are weakening precious pathways needed for inspiration, creative solutions, the pathway to a higher consciousness, and positive emotions like those of empathy and even love.
Dystopian stories today are darker because of the tolerance that normally develops in these biological feedback loops. It takes a bigger, darker story to excite the brains of most teenagers in the 21st century. This process is similar to a cocaine addict who initially snorts coke in powder form and then, as tolerance develops, smokes crack knowing that the drug in the smoke travels immediately and in much higher doses from his lungs to his blood stream temporarily overwhelming the tolerance.
Neuroscience now tells us that reality is formed by belief. The central nervous system gathers information from the world inside and outside the body and tries to make sense out of it. The making sense of it is ultimately one’s belief system. Beliefs are based on experiences. The more one sees or seeks darkness, the more darkness is programmed into the body, brain and belief system. If you think of the brain as a roadmap, which it essentially is, what we are doing by feeding young people a preponderance of this material, is feeding pathways toward darkness, inducing tendencies toward depression, anxiety, and disempowerment. Take this to an extreme and what you have is a world in which human beings have been programmed to dark deeds—material for a real thriller.
The good news is that we can change our reality through the same mechanism by which we’ve created it. Brain change, whether for good or worse, dark or light, follows the same rules: “use it or lose it” and “neurons that fire together wire together.” This means that the more you stimulate a pathway the more robust it becomes and that nerves and pathways that fire at the same tie become connected. If we simply shift the current balance of dark and light stimulation to our brains and bodies, there is a good chance that light, love, and wholeness will manifest.
The idea that we need to overcome evil has been promoted from time immemorial by our institutions and culture. Dystopian literature mirrors this notion by portraying an ongoing battle between darkness and light. The reality is we are perpetuating this myth by programming our brains to this model where not only darkness is a natural part of our being, but action and drama is required to overcome it. Perhaps on a deeper level our dark world reminds us of our own mortality and dystopian literature perpetuates the illusion that we can overcome this. These books may be distracting. They may validate our current world picture, but they do not empower young people. Rather by focusing on darkness they dim the light.
Add to this the fact that our brains literally use the same pathway to register the distress of physical pain and the angst of being separated (the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus). Darkness, by creating situations which separate and isolate people from one another, stimulates the pain/distress pathways, further fuelling the destructive cycle described above.
Most people would agree that there nothing better than a good mystery. But what is more mysterious than our very existence? Still, it takes more courage to face our own darkness than a world where there is a resolution. A response to our own sense of mortality can only be found by focusing on wholeness rather than separation, and thereby creating neural pathways towards behavior which enhances inner reflection rather than a reflexive response induced by terror.
Darkness may be part of our human heritage but we are spiritual beings too. And as such we need experiences, be it a book or other activities, which celebrate our connections to a larger Self, and to qualities of nurture, love, faith, and hope. Material which encourages sharing, an awareness of our natural world and our place in it results in emotional growth, more balanced brain chemistry and an increased ability to adapt and cope in the face of the inevitable pockets of darkness that do exist.
This is why alongside of dystopian literature, children need from an early age a literature of light which moves away from darkness, raising consciousness and not hairs. The pathways to an inner light, wholeness, and completeness require another stimulus—the affirmation that we have infinite almost magical powers of transformation. For most people this seems almost too good to be true. A utopian world where peace, harmony, and abundance reigns seems as far fetched as flying once did. But we now know that the interplay between our inner and outer landscape is what creates reality, and we have the power to affect that through our brains.
Any parent knows you cannot force feed a teenager a book. But as educators and parents let us be mindful from early on of our children’s inner world and provide them with the props necessary for building healthy, balanced neural pathways. This means making sure young children have plenty of experiences, through books activities, and otherwise, which nurture and soothe, and which inspire the qualities which create a harmony that will then be projected into the outer world. By building neural pathways towards connection and wholeness we can encourage a healthy desire to explore the world of light as well as darkness. Belonging to a whole is the way humans are made and how we work most effectively – that is why it is so healing. We are not having to override our stress response system, but working with it – energy and information moving in the right direction.
Our history is rife with examples of dark deeds and their doers. But there have always been those -Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa Albert Einstein, Walt Whitman, William Blake, Buddha, Jesus or the Dalai Llama-who have used their words or presence to remind the rest of us mortals of our true heritage which overcomes darkness in the best of ways by putting down the sword and celebrating our true powers of transformation, and our connectedness. In the world of darkness, it takes numbers to win the battle—the more the stronger. In the world of light, just one illuminated person can change hundreds of lives.
On a larger scale what this all means is that we as human beings hold the power to write our own story and much of the script is dictated by the brain.
And if we want that story to have a happy ending, best we keep that light burning bright.
Dr. Amy Banks is Director of Advanced Training at the Jean Baker Miller Institute and a practicing psychiatrist in Lexington, MA, specializing in Relationship Psychopharmacology. She speaks throughout the country on The Neurobiology of Relationship.
Kate Banks is a practicing hypnotist and regression therapist and author. She has written over 40 books for children and young adults. Her latest works are THE BEAR AND THE BOOK and THE MAGICIAN’S APPRENTICE
Kate and Amy are sisters