How Far Can We Extend This?
Here’s an interesting take from Seed:
Experiments have shown that social rejection prompts people to make poor decisions, such as eating more than they know they should or drinking too much. Now, a study in the current issue of the journal Social Neuroscience uncovers the neural basis for such poor decision-making. Researchers report that the feeling of social exclusion changes activity in specific regions of the brain responsible for self-control.
I’d bet that we could infer further about negative decision-making in stressful living environments in general, such as low-opportunity urban centers or in populations weighed down by debt.
Then Again
In another SEED article we can call into question bad decisions in general. Yes, metaphorically, we could always kill the elephants.
Elephants repeatedly rampage through residential areas of Sumatra island because of deforestation that has reduced their habitat.
I don’t think they needed studies to come to the conclusion on the first section of your post, although the biological proof just backs the observational evidence. Stress messes the brain.
Aside from metaphorically, “Be fruitful and multiply” should have come with some clause about common sense. Metaphorically, as you say, it seems to be common to cure the symptom rather than the disease.
I’m with you there, sister.