Mithridatism | Kaelan

King Mithridates VI of Pontus feared assassination by poison. His solution: take small, increasing doses of every known poison until he became immune. The strategy reportedly worked — when finally defeated by Rome, he tried to poison himself and failed. His guards had to stab him. The name stuck: mithridatism is building tolerance through deliberate exposure.

The principle underlies vaccination, allergy desensitization, and exposure therapy. Small doses of the threat train the system to handle larger ones. The immune system needs enemies to learn from. The psyche needs challenges to develop resilience. Complete protection prevents adaptation; controlled challenge enables it.

This is antifragility in its biological form. Systems that improve under stress need stress to improve. Remove all stressors and the system weakens — bones decalcify in zero gravity, immune systems become hyperreactive in sterile environments, muscles atrophy without load. The harm from overprotection can exceed the harm from exposure.

The key word is “controlled.” Mithridates calibrated his doses carefully. Too little exposure teaches nothing; too much overwhelms. The zone where challenge exceeds comfort but doesn’t exceed capacity is where adaptation happens. hormesis names this pattern: what kills in large doses strengthens in small ones.

The modern applications are psychological as much as physical. Children protected from all conflict don’t learn conflict resolution. Students shielded from failure don’t develop persistence. Employees insulated from feedback don’t grow. The instinct to remove all challenge is the instinct to prevent all development.

The practical question is always dosing: enough challenge to trigger adaptation, not so much that it causes damage. Mithridates got this right. His successors in overprotective parenting, zero-tolerance policies, and sterile environments often don’t.