WWMBD?

WWMBD?

It’s a Human Brain’s World

Out of the three brains: the Lizard Brain, the Monkey Brain and the Human Brain – the Human Brain has the power to overcome the Lizard and the Monkey. For better or worse – our society is geared towards a Human Brain existence.

Our brains can be thought of as three functional areas – the Lizard Brain, the Monkey Brain, and the Human Brain.

Out of these three, the Lizard Brain is the oldest and most primitive. The Lizard Brain is the cerebellum and the brain stem. Lizards only have this structure – while for us it is just a small portion at the base of our skulls – “the brain is like an iPod built around an eight-track cassette player”. The Lizard Brain controls reflexes – and reflexive actions. All of our instincts are housed in the Lizard Brain. Lizards – having only Lizard Brains – do not think, they only act instinctually.

Your Monkey Brain is the majority of the tissue in your brain. This part of the brain controls much more complex tasks than the Lizard Brain – but more importantly – it controls your emotions. Most mammals operate by leading with their Monkey Brains. Mammals’ day to day actions are largely ruled by their desire and fear responses. Do you chase the pleasure or the pain? Your monkey Brain guides you (actually, the mixture of pleasure/pain you seek – combined with the spectrum of other emotions – determines what type of “spirit animal” you have. Your spirit animal is revealed to you when the Human Brain is asleep and the Monkey Brain is driving – by whatever means you choose to do that – but that is another story altogether).

The Human Brain is the outer layer of the brain – that surrounds the Monkey Brain. In humans (and dolphins), the Human Brain has grown so large that it folds over itself – causing the human brain to look – for the lack of a better term – brainy. The Human Brain allows for logical, emotionless thought – otherwise known as delayed gratification.

Depending on which article you read (and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no brain surgeon), some locate the emotional learning center (a.k.a. Monkey Brain) in with the brain stem, while others postulate that emotional learning is how our Lizard Brains and Monkey Brains communicate. The basic idea of the three brain functions is there – no matter how you slice it. (Although Freud speculated on the Id, Ego and Superego instead of the Lizard, Monkey and Human Brains. However, Freud’s explanation of the Monkey Brain was rather twisted – much like Freud himself – and it probably reflected Freud a little more than it reflected the majority of people.)

Out of the three brains, two of mine are at odds (and that’s only because my Lizard Brain doesn’t know any better to be at odds in the first place). The Human Brain rationalizes our ever-increasing work-weeks as necessary for our survival, while the poor Monkey Brain atrophies due to lack of exercise. How do we maintain a harmonious balance between our Human and Monkey Brains? How do we balance our needs for a “career” along with all of the really enjoyable parts of being human?

Buddhists strive to silence the Monkey Brain through meditation, and release the Human Brain from desire as a way to seek peace. While this type of control over one’s brain is useful (“I can think, I can wait, I can fast”) – isn’t it only addressing the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself? Are not antidepressants achieving the same thing (although with many really unfortunate side effects) – “My Monkey Brain is satisfied… I feel sated”.

Of course, letting the Monkey Brain run free is probably not a good idea… unless you are a successful artist of some sort (where you get paid for your Monkey Brain outbursts)… AND you have trustworthy people keeping you out of trouble. Letting the Monkey Brain drive the ship is probably the equivalent of drinking until you black out. The human brain is no longer there to give warning that your next action may be a bad idea – and may have some negative consequences…

And this is at the heart of the question… Should we control our greedy thought-monkeys into submission, or should we find a way to coexist with our wild ape-like brains? Buddhists appear to maintain happiness by cultivating the wild Monkey-Brain thoughts into an orderly and aesthetically pleasing garden. But is there room in the Buddhist thought-garden for enjoying all-out primal fucking? ( – to use the parlance of our times…) Can peacefulness be found when just letting that garden grow some wild and weedy vines every now and then?

So the next time you’re at work, feeling like a cog in the machine – wondering how in the world are you supposed to do this for twenty more years… Ask yourself a question. WWMBD? (What Would Monkey Brain Do?)

…to be continued…