Something we call evolution, developed a triune brain in the human species. We didn't just start from scratch with an amazing new computer in our skulls. Oh no. At the top of every human spine is an ancient brain that dates back to the Permian Age - yes, the age of dinosaurs some 300 million years ago. And mammals came into existence about 250 million years ago with the addition of a paleomammalian brain layered over the reptilian brain. ( Now go back and look at all those references to reptiles and mammals in the tri-tiered myths mentioned earlier.) It took those two brains about 235 million years to get along inside the same head, when we started developing a third brain around those two.

That third brain, the baby of the trinity, is the one we are so proud of today. Matter of fact, it thinks it's the name of the game, the only brain in town. It calls itself the neocortex, and it has grown tremendously in its short existence until it cramps our skull & dwarfs its two parent brains. And, like any overgrown toddler, it thinks it is the center of the universe.

The quote above about 3 drivers for one car comes from Dr Paul MacLean, a brain evolution and behavior expert, who uncovered the three brains hidden in our head.

Origins of Human Aggression
(pg.29) - MacLean

“The human brain evolves and expands along the lines of three basic patterns characterized as reptilian, paleomammalian, and neomammalian.

"Radically different in chemistry and structure, and in an evolutionary sense countless generations apart, we have, so to speak, a hierarchy of three-brains-in-one, or what may be appropriately referred to as a triune brain.

“What this situation implies is that we are obliged to look at ourselves and the world through the eyes of three quite different mentalities. To complicate things further, there is evidence that the neural machinery underlying the two older mentalities lacks the capacity for verbal communication. But to say that they lack the power of speech does not belittle their intelligence, nor does it relegate them to the realm of the unconscious.* “Stated in present-day terms, one might imagine that our brain represents an amalgamation of three biological computers, each with its own special intelligence, subjective sense, sense of time and space, memory, motor, and other functions. What seems notably lacking is a neural code for inter-signaling in verbal terms.

"... I should point out that the basic neural machinery required for self-preservation and the preservation of the species is built into the lower brain stem and spinal cord. This neural chassis might be compared to the chassis of an automobile or other vehicle requiring a driver.
The odd situation that we must consider is the evolution of three different drivers for the same vehicle, all of different minds, and all located in the forebrain above the neural chassis.”

Below are some notes I have made on some of the characteristics of each of the three brains.

Reptilian

Now dear ones, we go below the surface "reality" of the neocortex and into parts of our brains
which are still a great mystery to the infant "upstairs." These intelligence centers have enabled life to survive in varied forms for millions of years. They are not to be discounted even if they don't speak the language of the neocortex.

Again, i will be general. the reptilian brain is the most ancient of the brains. It has two hemispheres just like the neocortex, and it may be that they relate functionally to the left and right hemispheres of the neocortex.

The reptilian brain consists of the upper part of the spinal cord and the basal ganglia, the diencephalon, and parts of the midbrain--- all of which sits atop the spinal column like a knob in the middle of our heads. It is thought to represent a fundamental core of the nervous
system and derives from a form of mammal-like reptile that once ranged widely over the world but disappeared during the Triassic period having provided the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and mammals. All modern mammals have this reptilian complex, including humans.

First and foremost among the traits generated through the reptilian brain is the drive to establish and defend territory. This is fueled by an extremely potent "will-to- power," exemplified among lizards by the ritual behavior of two rainbow lizards competing for dominance. These animals have beautiful colors and like many lizards, use headbobbing and pushups in assertive, aggressive, courtship and greeting displays. In a contest, once the gauntlet is thrown down, the aggressive displays give way to violent combat, and the struggle is unrelenting. In victory, they are tyrannical dictators in the extreme. In defeat, they lose their majestic colors, lapse into a kind of depression, and die two weeks later.

At least five human behaviors originate in the reptilian brain. These have been denoted as isopraxic, preservative, re-enactment, tropistic, and deceptive. Without defining them, I shall simply say that in human activities they find expression in:

--- obsessive-compulsive behavior;
---personal day-to-day rituals and superstitious acts;
---slavish conformance to old ways of doing things;
---ceremonial re-enactments;
---obeisance to precedent, as in legal, religious, cultural,
and other matters;
---responding to partial representations (coloration,
"strangeness," certain ways of moving, images of
certain kinds, etc.), whether alive or inanimate;

---and all manner of deception.

 

All movies and television likely are a projection of the reptilian brain. How so? Movies and television (video games, etc.) are all undeniably dreamlike, not only in their presentation of symbolic-reality, but also in that humans experiencing movies, etc. have the same brain wave patterns as when they are dreaming. And guess where dreaming originates in your head? In the reptilian brain (although other parts of our brains are involved).

The "language" of the reptilian brain is visual imagery. Most communications transferred by reptiles are done so by visual symbolic representations, each having specific meaning. Animals which have evolved from the reptiles (mammals & birds) do dream, but reptiles do not dream. Why? Because the reptilian mind is still operating in them and we humans call that mental state "dreaming." There is no "dreamstate" in reptiles because this mentality is their waking state. It is repressed during our waking hours (but still functioning--- it never sleeps) by chemicals released neocortically--- then the reptilian is allowed to function during sleep and dream, when the left hemisphere is in turn repressed. But obviously, the reptilian brain is not satisfied being relegated to the "nightwatch" of an inert body. It wants far more than that.

Humans invented rituals and ceremonies, and then, theater. Now where do you suppose those revelations came from? Theater, with its famous theorem of the "suspension of disbelief" (which is simply another way of saying, "Put your left brain to sleep.") is a re-invention of the reptilian mental-state "out-there". And of course, now we have excellent duplication of the reptilian mindset with movies and television, etc.--- which by some estimates, occupies up to 16-18 hours of our time per day, when you add in sleep-dream time.

Ritual, ceremony, theater, movies, television, video games, etc.; all of which was created out of the territoriality need-compulsion and the will-to-power of the reptilian brain. This "territoriality" and "will-to-power" is manifested in a variety of ways in human behavior, as are other reptilian traits. Let me give some examples, though you will soon realize that an abundance of examples is present in our civilization.

"He" wants to marry her, and "She" might very well be interested, but they agree that before marriage can be considered, he must have a "good job" with a steady income and a "good future" --- "They" are rainbow lizards (or any number of other reptiles, birds & mammals) whose "courtship ritual" consists of the male showing his ability to establish and protect a certain "space" before he will be considered a suitable mate--- in short, this kind of compulsion/obssession is reptilian, no matter how much rationale the left brain of the neocortex applies to justify it.

As you will see, "territoriality" extends far beyond a patch of earth in humans--- and "will-to-power" has many masks.

"Us" attack "Them" because of their skin color. It is the color display that "Us" attack. "Us" are cock lizards ( & countless other reptiles ). All racism is reptilian.

"B. All" is attracted to "N. Doll" because "N. Doll" wears red lipstick. When "N. Doll" wears blue lipstick, "B. All" is uninterested. "B. All" is attracted to coloration--- but color is not the only physical display involved in this compulsion. It could be any physical characteristic. "B. All" could be addicted to warts. "N. Doll" could be mesmerized by a certain walk.

And what about Mr. "B. All" who digs big breasts and tight buns? Or Miss "N. Doll" who likes big dicks and biceps? They are green anolis lizards who can only respond to some physical display--- like a flared collar or a slim chassis. B. All and N. Doll are impotent without a hot mirage in front of their eyes. They can't get off without hollywood or madison avenue controling their hormonal traffic; they don't go cruising, they go vogueing. They are into drive-by orgasms. They are turned on and off by traffic lights.

So who's doing the driving here? All compulsive reactions of either attraction or aggression based on any physical displayal or representation is originated in the reptilian brain.

"Goo Rue" lives in a shallow cave on the top of an isolated mountain. "Goo Rue" follows a very simple daily routine from which he never strays. Most of his day is spent in prayer, basking in the radiation of his god ( which, being "beyond words," is imaged at his altar as a serpent spiraling up a rod ). The rest of "Goo Rue's" day is spent patiently foraging for food and "living on the moment." Frequently, "Goo" is visited by followers from near-by villages who prostrate themselves before him. "Goo Rue" speaks of "timelessness & bodilessness & regeneration." After eating, or after giving a particularly inspiring speech, "Goo Rue" has uncontrolable sexual urges, of which only young girls of the villages are aware. "Goo Rue" is a Komodo Dragon.

"Double-O-Dahlmer" is cool and emotionless. "Double-O-Dahlmer" is "Goo Rue's" brother and lives on the flipside of his mountain. "Double-O-Dahlmer" lives in isolation also, and follows a rigid daily routine, which includes stalking and lying in wait for boys who stray from the village. Once his prey is lured to his cave, "Double-O-Dahlmer" feeds his needs by sexually dominating the boys and then mechanically dismembering them. He keeps their body parts in his refrigerator. "Double-O-Dahlmer" is a "cold-blooded killer." "Double-O-Dahlmer" is also a Komodo Dragon.

Komodo Dragons are suspected to be the closest of living reptiles that may resemble one of the carnivorous mammal-like reptiles that gave us our proto-reptilian brain. Komodo Dragon hatchlings take to the trees as soon as possible to avoid being cannibalized by adult Dragons. Remember this, for it will take on symbolic meaning later.

All of these behaviors originate in impulses at the reptilian brain or lower in the body, and are modified by the "higher" brains. The reptilian brain is a powerful source of human behavior--- primarily because it is hidden. It is deceptive. It is a secret from our conscious. But we do "know" it emotionally, intuitively. It is the slithering serpent in darkness! It is The Unconscious.

Zairian saying: "If you kill a snake, you're still afraid of it."

 

paleomammalian

A headline grabbed me this morning. it read, "Road Rage; Why This Senseless Crime?"
Why? The answer is the paleomammalian brain.

The story told of a man driving on the highway who became enraged when another car cut into his lane. A high-speed "race" began between the two drivers, which ended in the death of an innocent third person.

The paleobrain uses its emotional "language" to magnify or diffuse or otherwise redirect messages coming from the reptilian brain. In the case above, the reptilian's sense of territoriality had been "violated." The paleobrain emotionally magnified that message into rage which over-rode the "conscious" influence of the neocortex. You can see the same process going on around you (or in you) everyday.

But a great deal more was happening than meets the eye. I will try to be very general and brief.
Evolution created the paleobrain around the reptilian brain for two major "reasons:"

First, to enable life to break the endless patterns of the reptilian, so life could adapt to changes in the environment and survive. For example, a reptilian prototype does the same thing every day of its life - the same "day" repeated endlessly. Should an obstacle unexpectedly appear in the reptile's normal path (like a fallen boulder), the reptile will likely sit there unmoving until it dies. The same reptile with a paleobrain added will use emotional energy (like rage) to overcome the obstacle.

Second, to introduce to life the "concepts" of "parenting" and of "play!" (in other words, the first signs of Love and Creativity).

Unlike the neocortex and the reptilian brains, which are subdivided in two, the paleobrain has three subdivisions; the amygdalar, the septal, and the thalamocingulate divisions. (note that there are THREE brains with SEVEN subdivisions - both those numbers are key in decoding symbolic life ).

The mentation state of the paleomammalian brain is emotion.

The main thing i want to relay now about the paleobrain is this: there is convincing evidence that the emotional energy of the paleobrain IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY for humans to have any kind of sense of bio-SELF-IDENTITY. In other words, without emotion "I" do not exist physically. (Poor Descartes! Without an emotional brain, his neocortex could not have conceived, much less said, " I think therefore I am!"

The emotional energy of the paleobrain brings with it a sense of bio-self-identity. MacLean notes that people with damaged areas of the paleobrain exhibit a loss of self sense. Without that emotional energy, there is no physical self-identity. ( I know, I said that 3 times )

And so oftentimes, as in the "road-rage" story above, an individual fearing loss of "territory" also fears loss of "self." The instantaneous response of the paleobrain is overpowering emotion. and in that emotional release, the statement is made that "I EXIST! and YOU cannot do that to ME!"

 

neocortex

Much of this you probably already know. The neocortex has been compared to the modern computer (which it created, by the way). As i said earlier, it is a relative "baby" and it thinks it knows everything and that the entire universe revolves around it. It is a wonderful baby, anyway, when it operates with Lovenergy. We all know what it can do operating with Fearenergy.

The mentation state of the neocortex is what is called “consciousness.”

It functions however with two very different parts - the left and right hemispheres. Unfortunately, historically, these two parts have been "warring" with one another - involved in a childish tug-of-war over "power" in the world it created around us. This "war" is often projected as a male/female struggle - or an east/west struggle, etc. I see much of this "warring" to be the result of unconscious manipulation of the neo-left and neo-right by the parent brains, the emotional paleo-brain and the territorial rept-brain.

The neocortex is "wired" to sensorally perceive the world outside the body. Unfortunately, it seems to be less well "wired" to what's happening inside its own body, including the valuable input from the two more ancient brains. So often, the input from the "lower" brains is relegated to the "unconscious" (reptilian)- or the “subconscious” (paleomammalian) - which as you will see, is disastrous.

The neo-left hemis controls the right side of the body. The neo-right hemis controls the left side of the body. It is fairly evident that the Left has assumed domination in the body and in civilization at the moment. (this was not always the case - and will probably change again).

In general, the Left is seen as responsible for verbal, analytic, reductive-into-parts, sequential-rational, time-oriented, discontinuous types of "thinking" and behavior. The neo-left is a rational “control-freak” when it is allowed to dominate.

In general, the Right is seen as responsible for non-verbal, holistic, visuo-spatial, intuitive, timeless, diffuse types of "thinking" and behavior. The neo-right is the “shaming queen” when allowed to dominate.

Part of the reason the two hemispheres perform their specific functions is because the Right seems to have evolved to connect with the functions of the emotional paleomammalian brain. And the Left seems to have evolved to connect with the functions of the highly-patterned reptilian brain - though they are all linked somewhat to each other and can form various "alliances" between certain parts of each brain.

I think of the neo-left as The Word ( now evolving into The Number ).
I think of the neo-right as The Way. (or The Theory)

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