The term hedonism was coined in ancient Greece to describe the methodology, or philosophy, of seeking pleasure and reducing pain. According to Charles Darwin, pleasure seeking also serves as an evolutionary advantage to humans, by motivating us towards behaviors that seek pleasure. So if seeking pleasure helped us evolve as humans, then perhaps a little indulgence isn’t all that bad.
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Motivate your senses
Seeking pleasure in the all-new Tonale
As we interact and engage with the world around us, including objects of desire, our senses act as the entryway to our brains and bodies. The senses have a major role to play in revving our emotions and motivations. Considering this, can an all-new Alfa Romeo Tonale engage our senses?
“The human brain’s neural circuitry is dedicated to survival, first and foremost. Our biology is really designed and gamed for short term survival. Which is why we are so pleasure seeking by nature.” says Dr. Sahar Yousef, cognitive neuroscientist at UC Berkeley. Dr. Yousef goes on to explain “The relationship between emotion and the pursual of reward is really fascinating. The bigger the emotional response, the more likely it is to actually impact and influence future action, future desire, future pursuit of reward.”
Humans are motivated by rewards, and our senses act as a bridge between our experiences which in turn promote behaviors that seek said rewards. Sitting in the driver’s seat of a Tonale, our senses are engaged. As mechanoreceptors in our muscles and skin feel the power of the engine, or olfactory receptors relay the aroma of that new car smell, it all funnels back to the reward center.
The reward system in the brain is made up of the limbic system, a set of neural structures that manage motivation, emotion, learning and memory. So when we engage an object of desire, the limbic system evaluates that desire, with help from neuromodulators like dopamine, then prompts us to engage in behaviors that seek what feels good and avoid what doesn’t. In this case, the reward could be to test drive or buy a Tonale.
“The bigger the emotional response, the more likely it is to actually impact and influence future action, future desire, future pursuit of reward.”
“It motivates pursuit, pursuit towards action, pursuit towards things that feel good, and also help keep us alive, so that we are surviving and thriving” says Dr. Yousef. When not taken to extremes, hedonism has a vital part to play in human evolutionary progress. Whether that be acquiring a new skill, or having altogether new experiences, experiencing through the senses and pleasure seeking, conditions humans to seek rewards again and again.
Hedonism historically has gotten a bad rap, when taken to extremes, but the pursuit of rewards has also helped humans progress and evolve, so a little indulgence can’t be all that bad, right? Perhaps we should take that Tonale for a spin after all.
