"And men should know that from nothing else but from the brain comes joy, laughter, jests, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And by this…we acquire wisdom and knowledge, and we see and hear and know what are foul and what are fair, what sweet and what unsavory… and by the same organ we become mad and delirious, and fears and terrors assail us."
Hippocrates (Greek physician 460-377 BC)
"The brain is the most complicated material object in the known universe. If you attempted to count the number of connections, one per second, in the mantle of our brain (the cerebral cortex), you would finish counting 32 million years later. But that is not the whole story. The way the brain is connected – its neuroanatomical pattern – is enormously intricate. Within this anatomy a remarkable set of dynamic events take place in hundredths of a second and the number of levels controlling these events, from molecules to behavior is quite large."
Nobel Laureate Dr. Gerald Edelman, Director of Neurosciences Institute
Genes are what make us an individual, for example, to be built with two blue eyes, two arms, one nose, and a brain with certain architecture.
Our body is made up of different types of interconnected cells functioning together. Each cell has 46 chromosomes or a chain of genes. 23 chromosomes come from each parent. Every chromosome is made up of the chemical DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is our inheritance; half is from our father and half is from our mother. Genes are segments of our DNA and the units of our inheritance. A gene consists of four chemical molecules: adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, or A, C, G, and T joined together in a chain. The short chemical name for a chain of any number of these molecules, in any order, is DNA. The order of these molecules provides coded instructions for everything a cell does.
The job of genes is to make proteins – the building blocks of life.
The brain changes continuously as a result of our experiences. Experiences produce physical changes in the brain either through new neural connections or through the generation of new neurons. Studies suggest that the brain can change even during the course of the day. This means that the anatomy of the brain varies from individual to individual. Even identical twins with identical genes don’t have identical brains. The have had different life experiences.
Experiences are the reason that all individuals are unique. There are no individuals with exactly the same upbringing, nutrition, education, social stamping, physical, social, and cultural setting. This creates different convictions, habits, values, and character. People behave differently because differences in their environment cause different life experiences. This is why it is sometimes hard to understand other people’s behaviors. To do that, we must adapt to their environment and share their experiences. This is sometimes impossible.
The different areas of the brain originate different decision frameworks. We automatically react (evolutionary response) from the brain area that triggers the neuro response, but we have the ability to migrate brain areas and alter our decision-making frameworks. There are (3) primary areas of the brain that we react from. There is the Reptilian Brain (i.e. the Amygdala or the region of the brain linked with emotional states (like fight or flight) < Mammal Brain (i.e. the region of the brain associated with social acceptance and the desire to belong) < Human Brain (i.e. the region of the brain associated with the creation, computation, and deterministic evolution).
It is in our best interest to both assess the origination of our response and then influence our decision making in/around said response based on the most optimal outcome desired.
Behavior is influenced by our state of mind
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
Marcus Aurelius Antonius (Roman Emperor and Philosopher 121-180 AD)
Our state of mind is a function of our life experiences and the specific situation we find ourselves in.
OUR RESPONSE ALGORITHM = what we were born with (GENE CODE) + what we have endured (EXPERIENCES) * the current situation we find ourselves in (THE ENVIRONMENT)
Put simply,
Those who evolve at a far faster and more optimal rate regularly operate from the human brain and understand the how to maximize the DECISION TREE and bend their thoughts.
Remember…there is no spoon.