Changing location and culture – especially as you get older – can create issues for both those who emigrate and those in the local community, said Sinan Canan, a specialist in neuropsychology and evolutionary biology, and the founder of Brussels-based NGO Mind Hub Academy, during his visit to Luxembourg.
“We are usually very adaptive if we change location and culture, but in a situation of social, economic or health crisis, we turn back to our original cultural codes and we display some pre-learned behaviour and a set of automatic responses,” he said.
For Canan, behavioural, adaptation and communication problems are mostly psychological. We develop our cultural patterns or code, including language and emotional responses, from a very early age in life, before our brain development has finished.
“This is the foundation of our thinking and behaviour for the rest of our lives,” he said. “If you take the same child and raise it in a different environment, it will be very different, because we are cultural creatures.”
From his short stay in the Grand Duchy, Canan believes that Luxembourg is in a good situation, where people interact with each other, but that is in part due to a flourishing economy and good employment opportunities.
Conversely in some societies, immigrants and native residents don’t interact, creating ghettos that generate a subculture “which is not good for immigrants or the local population”.
More interaction to avoid depression
The solution for Canan is quite simple – to communicate and share life together no matter what the cultural code, because then you can generate a new set of behavioural patterns.
However he highlights that there are sticking points to achieving this which include religion, social values and some traditions, that can generate a barrier in communication.
Communicate and share life together no matter what the cultural code, because then you can generate a new set of behavioural patterns
“When I go to a place, if I cut communication and self-isolate I get depressed. Humans are biologically and psychologically fine-tuned to be with others, not alone. If you’re at odds with this you exaggerate anything negative, become distressed, cynical or even aggressive.”
Meeting new people needs to be genuine, and Canan suggests that a good start is to help someone in a community setting, because it makes us feel good to do good for others. Both immigrants and Luxembourgers need to adopt a growth mindset like a child at school, where they develop new connections with each other.
“If you think life is enough then you generate a strategy to protect it, but if you want to develop you look for opportunities to do this. It’s a decision on how you think about others and the place you live,” he said.
The “edge” effect
He describes the “edge effect” – a term used in biology when two different things come together, such as where the land meets the sea. “In that edge there is abundance, lots of extra things growing there, and it’s the same thing in cultural life when two cultural codes or behaviours meet.”
His formula to protect both your mental and physical health is simple. Move more and eat less, construct real and emotionally connected relationships (not via social media), learn to manage every day stresses, and push your boundaries.
“If we are in the same circumstances we become depressed – that is the basic finding of evolutionary biology.”
During his visit to Luxembourg, he spoke about his book, Human Operations Manual, in an event organised by the Mind Hub Academy, Turkish Global Society magazine and European Academy for Education and Social Research.