That huge elephant, I thought to myself for the 100th time, tethered on that tiny stake. They can weigh up to 7 tons, and there was this huge elephant rocking back and forth, kept from moving more than a few feet by … an electric fence? 25 armed men? No, by a small chain on a tiny stick.
How can this happen? How has it forgotten what it’s capable of? This can happen to any mammal, including you and me, and here’s how.
We have three brains – the reptilian, the limbic and the neocortex. (See The EQ Foundation Course© – http://www.susandunn.cc/courses.htm ).
Reptiles have only the reptilian brain, the primitive brain that keeps the heart beating, regulates instincts, pumps oxygen through the lungs. They’re born miniature adults and already know all they’re going to learn. So there’s no need for parents to teach. Reptiles don’t bond with their young; in fact they’ll eat them if they don’t scurry away.
But the little elephant calf is well cared for. This is where the limbic brain comes in, the one we share with all mammals. It’s how we bond and where emotions come from.
The young calf is cared for by all the females in the herd. They gather ’round to celebrate its birth, trumpeting, and spinning, with temporal secretions running down their temples. They feel the bond.
Meanwhile, the mother must get the baby up on its feet to nurse, or it won’t survive. It already has to learn something. And in this process, too, all the young females are learning about mothering. The hormones and the limbic brain drive it all.
Childhood lasts a long time for the elephant, as it does for the human. They have much to learn about survival and their culture. They’re dependant on their mothers, emotionally and physically, for 3-5 years, and often aren’t weaned til their 10th year.
Why this long dependency? Because they aren’t born knowing how to survive, they must learn it. Similar to humans and apes, much of the elephant’s brain development takes place after birth. This allows for (and demands) learned behaviors, not just instinctual behavior.
Like humans, the elephant is born with minimal “innate” knowledge. For instance, it’s only through watching adults the elephant learns its trunk can be used to pick things up, or scratch or drink with.
Now what if the young elephant calf, with it’s new brain (“impressionable”) is captured and its leg chained to a stake in the ground that he can’t pull away from no matter how hard he pulls? And at the same time, he’s scared.
Scientists are discovering that fear and the memory get stored together in the cells for a long time. Once coupled with fearful events, they continue to fire in unison long after the original event is over.
At an early age, the elephant has learned “helplessness,” that when that thing’s on its leg, no matter what it does, it can’t get away, so eventually it gives up and quits trying. And there stands that 7-ton animal tethered by nothing, really, except its fearful memories.
Has this happened to you? (Think about it.) Could coaching help? (Think about it.)
About the Author
Susan Dunn, MA Psychology, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Individual and business coaching, distance learning courses, the EQ eBook Library – http://www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html . Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE eZine.