In fact, human beings are fragile, and we will succumb to laziness, greed and desire most of the time. We can't refuse the warmth in the quilt in winter morning and give up the idea of getting up early; We couldn't resist the temptation of the next piece of cheesecake, so we interrupted our weight loss plan; We can't hold the impulse of "playing another game" and "jumping", thus wasting valuable attention. The desire for pleasure and rational self-discipline are eternal invisible wars in the human brain! ! !
Just as Ovid, a famous Roman poet, described the dilemma faced by the protagonist Medea in his masterpiece Metamorphosis. She can't give up her crazy love for Jason. She is bound by her father's responsibility. How many people said in their hearts: "I was held back by a mysterious force." Desire and reason seem to tear me in half. I know what is right and I want to do it, but I am still on the wrong path. " ("I was drawn by a strange new force. Desire and reason pull in different directions. I saw the right method and approved it, but followed the wrong one. " )
There are deeper reasons behind the human problems that have lasted for thousands of years. Let's start with the brain to find the answer.
Left to right
As we all know, our brain is composed of two hemispheres, which cross the left and right limbs, that is, the left cerebral canal and the right cerebral body, and vice versa. Everyone knows that there are still a series of functional differences between the left and right brains. The left brain is better at language processing and analyzing generic rationality, while the right brain is better at imagining space and various images. What connects the two hemispheres is an organization called corpus callosum, which plays an important role and significance as an important bridge connecting the two hemispheres. I'm going to tell you a wonderful little story.
The story happened in the 1960s, when a surgeon named Joe Bergen. In order to alleviate the pain of epileptic seizure, the operation of removing the corpus callosum was performed. Here is a brief introduction to the pathology of epilepsy. After a stroke in a certain area of the brain, the pain will be transmitted to the whole brain with brain cells, eventually causing the patient's shock. The purpose of the surgeon to remove the corpus callosum is to prevent the pain from spreading to the whole hemisphere, thus alleviating the pain of the patient. At first glance, it was a very successful operation. However, to everyone's surprise, the patients after the operation had more absurd problems.
Because the corpus callosum is a bridge between the two hemispheres, there is no communication between the two hemispheres after resection. There are two famous terms in psychology. The first one is the hand of aliens. Usually after the operation, the patient's left hand will act according to his own wishes, as if it were not the patient's hand. There are even cases in history where the left hand tried to strangle himself. The second is "fabrication". Among them, the most interesting experiment is the "Coke Experiment". When the study only showed the word "walking" to the left eye of postoperative patients, the right brain accepted information action. When researchers ask patients why they stand up and act, the left brain, which processes information and language, can't communicate with the right brain and can't know the reason, so they make up an excuse to say "Oh, I want to buy a bottle of coke".
Through these experiments, the researchers found that the left brain of human beings is very good at making up a reason for their behavior, even without knowing why.
New and old
On the other hand, the long evolutionary history proves to us that the human brain is gradually becoming complex and highly functional. The expansion of the brain is like the expansion of the house. When you have no money, you can only live in a small room of more than ten square meters. With the continuous growth, we earned more money and moved to an apartment that can accommodate a family of three. When I finally reached the peak of my life, I was finally able to live in my big house. The history of human struggle in modern society in just a few decades is based on the evolution of the brain for tens of thousands of years. From the beginning, the brain only had an ancient cortex and evolved into a limbic system (limbic is derived from Latin /limbus/, meaning limbic). ) It contains hypothalamus, hippocampus and amygdala, which is the part that can better reflect animal instinct. With the emergence of more human activities and behaviors, human beings have developed their own unique neocortex (newcortex = new coverage = new packaging), which is more advanced than other mammals. This layer is also more rational analysis. However, human beings cannot completely obey their own rational light. Because the neocortex is much shorter than the limbic cortex, humans can't fully grasp it. In the time dimension, it can help us better understand our brain.
Control VS automatic
Based on the comparison between the old and the new, it is easier for us to understand two different operating systems in the brain-controlled system (new products launched in a short time) and automatic system (products polished for a long time can react immediately without thinking). The control system needs human beings to concentrate their attention and rationally analyze the advantages and disadvantages of a thing with language. The automatic system only needs to open or close the hormone valve. It is obvious which is faster or slower.
And this Millennium problem that haunts people's minds just reflects the struggle between these two systems. The eternal game between reason (control system) and desire (automatic system).
Therefore, knowing the brain is the process of knowing ourselves. We have a brain that will "fabricate" reasonable reasons for our actions, a brain with different old and new cortex after this long evolution, a brain with different fast and slow operating systems, and a "split" self. It is necessary to understand the desire brought by animal instinct "fast system" and improve the control ability of rational "slow system". As the author (jonathan hyde) gives a wonderful analogy in the book. Our brains are like people riding elephants. Elephants are fast systems and animal instincts, while elephant riders are rational light and slow systems. From the perspective of time, the elephant rider is not the owner of the elephant, but the servant and consultant of the elephant.
After understanding this Millennium problem, do we really really really really have no way to solve it?
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