ON YOUR MARK, GET SET

“I write to understand as much as to be understood.” 

Elie Wiesel 

When runners go to the starting line for a race they may get down into starting blocks or stand, leaning forward with their strong, push off leg in front. In either case, depending on the distance and the running surface, they position themselves for a strong start. When I sit down to write I lean into Wiesel’s quote. I do not have an outline or a crystal ball. What ends up on the page is not a foregone conclusion. The process allows me to organize and wrestle with ideas, shuffle puzzle pieces around until I get the picture. Often, I end up with ideas and understanding that I never expected. 

I’m reading a book about how the brain works. It’s slow, read over, maybe read again and take notes. With a Clive Cussler novel you don’t have to do that, the plot unfolds understandably and content knits together neatly in familiar language. But then novels, informative as they may be, are for entertainment. The author doesn’t want to lose you in a maze of unfamiliar corollaries and technical terminology. In my case, basic science literacy and knowledge of human anatomy and physiology help but it’s not over anybody’s head. The book is, “The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt. 

I’m far enough along that I can anticipate a long read with lots of goings back to reconnect the dots. I will not summarize or review the book but I would recommend it. What I take seriously from Haidt’s research is that we are only beginning to understand the why and because of thinking and behavior. Imagine a family with an older, stronger, faster father whose only concern is when to fight and when to run. The mother’s only asset is that she is smart; she can do math and write poetry. Her only leverage in the family is to convince him that he should consult-consider her intelligent opinion, which he does not want to do. This is a metaphor for the brain, not a family. The old, primeval, reptilian brain that gets the last word on every issue competes with the “come lately” cerebral cortex. The relationship between the two is well suited for a sparsely populated, hunter-gatherer life style. Brain adaptation/evolution have not kept up with the advance of civilization and technology but in the last ten thousand years, the species has not experienced any significant threat to its survival. Adaptive changes occur most rapidly when the species is under stress so until that happens, we’re stuck with a Stone Age brain. So we wander into the future with a flawed sense of purpose and the perception of being self propelled. 

I’m not selling anything, no ‘Ism’ to promote. All I have are questions that, when answered, only pose new questions. It is unsettling to consider; the only reason I trust reason more than emotion is that my emotional core is focused on reason rather than on itself. I have neither the tools nor the access to make that happen by myself. Like the smart mother, somehow the stronger father part has learned to trust her. I need to get back to the reading. I’m in the part about how we change our minds. That’s not switching from coffee to tea, but working on a skill set that allows the old brain be more receptive to the new one.