"Men are conscious of their own
desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been
determined."
~ Spinoza
(See Phineas Gage, frontal lobe
damage)
John Hodges (2001). "Book
review: An odd kind of fame. Stories of Phineas Gage". Journal of
Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 71 (1). doi:10.1136/jnnp.71.1.136c.
Before
beginning our brain journey, I would like to start with a metaphorical story (I love metaphorical stories) to help
put our cognitive battle in perspective.
An American
Indian grandfather was talking to his beloved grandson about his feelings:
Grandfather: I have two wolves fighting in my
heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one.
The other
wolf is the loving, compassionate one.
Grandson: Which wolf will win the fight in
your heart grandfather?
Grandfather: The one that I feed.
This great
story of two wolves represents the cognitive dilemma that we all face.
The “bad wolf” represents an area of the
brain known as the Limbic System (LS).
The type of food the bad wolf (LS) might
consume presents a conundrum for humans. On one hand it brings joy in life… but
left unchecked… it can provide the most pain.
The reality
is that if it wasn’t for the LS none
of us would be here. The LS’s
circuits were selected to generate behavior that was appropriate for our
survival in a barren world. There were no restaurants, or gardens… when our
ancestors came across nuts, roots, or a dead carcass, it was in our best
interest to eat it….all of it!
Their next
meal was not a given. In fact, it could be up to a week before they might eat
again.
Those
ancestors, who were successful at finding food, shelter, killing rivals, and procreating,
now preside within each and every person that inhabits the earth today.
The rewards
for finding those “visible” essentials were just the “tip of the Iceberg.” The true “reward” for finding these essentials
lay beneath the surface…..Dopamine…
and it’s still true today.
Dopamine is a neural transmitter that is
central to our brain’s reward circuitry. Dopamine provides feelings of pleasure
and provides reinforcement to motivate a person to proactively perform certain
activities (See Conditioned Response). Regardless of what we find pleasure/enjoyment
in… dopamine is the payoff. (http://psychology.about.com/od/cindex/g/condresp.htm)
Consider the
irony….the successful evolutionary drives that were selected for in a barren
world are now the very drives that appear to be killing us living in a world of
abundance.
Within the LB lies the brain’s “pleasure center”, the Nucleus Accumbens (NA). Whenever we experience pleasure, the NA becomes flooded with dopamine.
The good
wolf represents the Neo-Cortex (NC).
This area is the “executive director”
of our behavior (impulse control,
decision making, reason, and logic). The NC is fully aware of our consequences.
The type of
food (information) the good wolf
consumes stimulates the intellect.
This
represents the grandfather’s response… “The
one that I feed.”
Aristotle
observed this behavior of seeking pleasure and finding pain in a 322 B.C quote…
“The lives of many
humans are governed by nothing more than the pleasure and pain that comes from
the satisfaction and frustration of appetites. Appetites and reason are part of
every human, but his or her character is revealed by which of the two dominates.”
We are
governed by the pleasure and pain that comes from the satisfaction and
frustrations of our evolutionary drives.
We are a species that doesn’t fully comprehend the biological consequences
of surviving our harsh past. So we
continue to partake in things that biologically provide the most satisfaction (dopamine) in spite of the negative
effects of living a life un-controlled.
If humanity
is to survive, we must transcend our biological desires shaped by the
evolutionary pressures of our past through awareness and reason.
From struggling
in a harsh barren world…… to struggling in a world of abundance…… how ironic.
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