Rats and humans can develop irrelevant motor patterns when learning a particular sequence that persist due to successful outcomes, leading to superstitions and even compulsions. These patterns can be eliminated without affecting the outcome.
The desire to live for a long time and never die has always been present in human evolution. Philosophers claim that all living forms have evolved to not want to die, although immortality could be achieved by resetting the body hundreds of times and living for thousands of years.
The idea of achieving effective human immortality is interesting, but mortality is deeply factored into the human condition as it now exists.
The reality of death is a uniquely human experience, and coming to terms with it can lead to better outcomes in life. By acknowledging and embracing the inevitability of death, we can focus on making the most of our time on Earth.
Our autonomic nervous system can be geared towards parasympathetic calm states or can be at higher levels of autonomic arousal similar to animal species like bulldogs and pit bulls, respectively. It is important to recognize these differences in order to better understand goals to pursue.