Empathy, Alpha Status, Serotonin, and Apes
Scientific inquiry has demonstrated that the amount of neurotransmitters like Serotonin in the brains of apes, is to large extent responsible for the alpha status of a particular ape. The more neurotransmitter, the higher the alpha status.
The same is true in humans. People are to a large extent predestined in this way. Intelligence does not make you a leader necessarily, self-confidence is more important. Two people could be born at the same time, have the same intelligence, and be raised in a similar environment and one will become a science fiction writer, the other a ceo. Intelligence is something can be applied to anything, but where it is applied depends on the persons alpha status.
Alpha status is really a measure of empathy. Empathy is like emotional capital. Some people have great empathy, that allows them to extend their being over other people, it allows them to feel what others are feeling. Such people easily can become happy when they hear good news and can also easily sympathize with someones misfortune.
Most people dont have a high alpha status. Most people fall somewhere in the middle on the scale. Most people can share joy with a limited group of friends and relatives, but for them emphasizing with a stranger would be much more difficult.
On the other end of the scale are people who have very low empathy, and low neurotransmitter levels, who can also be diagnosed as depressed. To people around them, these people might seem selfish and introverted. People with low alpha status are not necessarily selfish, but they are lacking in emotional capital. They have barely enough of that for themselves, so emphasizing with someone else is impossible. Such people have a hard time fining other people interesting, they usually only regard themselves as interesting. Such people, even though they may be very talented and intelligent, are predestined to a life of a low alpha status person. This means they are not likely to make a lot of money(which takes social skills), they are most likely to become artistic, and they often succumb to addictions.
Antidepressants, such as Paxil, are changing all this. Now anyone can increase their serotonin levels if they wish. Any one can get more alpha status. However, Paxil by itself is not enough to truly change someones alpha status. Paxil starts working after about 2 month of taking it, at this time the person will feel that they are walking in someone elses shoes. Every single faces of their life will somehow look different, brighter, more interesting. However if the individual doesnt adjust their living patters enough, if they dont take enough action, the feeling will pass over them and the drug will cease being effective. They might at this point want to increase their prescription.
Thinking about this fact of life is sad but the future seems to promising a change that will make everyone more alike each other. The wide gaps between alpha males and those who are outcasts will shrink and we will all be more alike through psychotropic drugs and genetic engineering.