Your Mammalian Brain: The Lymbic System

The Mammal Brain is believed to be the seat of our value judgment, and thus has a great influence on behavior: it decides whether the higher brain has a “good” idea or not, based on whether it “feels” true and right or not, in other words, it subordinates logic to feelings. Since the Mammal Brain still tends to be dogmatic and paranoid and because of its tendency to hedonistic, pleasure seeking and pain avoiding behavior, its judgment of what is “good or bad” is mostly based on rationalizing desires instead of “thinking”.

For example, to use my earlier “broccoli vs, cookie” example, a young child, who has not yet have the ability (or limitation) of the complex rationalization of an adult, “thinks” and behaves mainly from the mammal brain’s point of view: I am hungry. I like the taste of cookies. I do not like the taste of broccoli. I want cookie.

She does not yet “think” rationally: I am hungry, and I prefer the taste of cookie to broccoli, but I know that cookie has a lot of sugar and sugar is not good for my health. Broccoli has lots of vitamins and good nutrients. I will eat the broccoli.

But, she also does not think this way: I will not eat cookies, because they will make me fat. If I am fat, no one will like me. I need to be skinny in order to fit in. Come to think of it, I will not eat the broccoli either. I am a bad person, for even thinking of eating all that food. I will starve myself to death.

And, she does not think: No one will ever love me, because I am fat. I am a looser, and I am not strong enough to stick to a diet or to exercise. I will always be fat, what is the use? Food is my friend. I will eat the whole box of the cookies, because I want to feel better.

The mammal brain “acts, feels, and behaves” like a stupid cow sometimes, and can’t muster enough thinking or problem solving skills to leave a burning barn, even if the gate is open, unless is directed and practically forced by a sheep dog. The mammal brain however is also the one who compels the loyal dog to run into a burning building, in order to save its master. It might “tell” us that starving ourselves to death is a good idea, in order to fit in, in order to be loved, but it is also the one responsible for us for the irrational, but heroic act of jumping in front of a moving car, or a speeding bullet to save our loved ones.

Literally in the middle between the reptilian and thinking brain, the mammalian brain is greatly influenced by both, and acts as a bridge, translator, negotiator and mediator between the two.

By becoming aware of how our emotions and memories form, their influence on our thinking and behavior, the way we perceive, create, interpret and react to our inner and outer reality, we can change the way we think, feel, the way we act, they way we react, we can change our experience of reality, in fact, we can change our reality.

Your Lizzard Bodyguard: The Reptilian Brain

We do not have one brain, in fact, we have three brains, stacked on top of each other, in order they have evolved. The oldest and most primitive of the brains is the basal brain, the R-complex as coined by MacLean, who first proposed the model of the “triune brain”.


The Reptile Brain consist of the brain stem and the cerebellum, and it remains basically unchanged since it first appeared in reptiles. It’s main “concern” is to keep us alive and multiply and it is "filled with ancestral memories" of our lizard and snake ancestors. It does not “think”, it does not have emotions, it only “acts in a cold, and totally uncalculated way, it prefers fight over fleeing, sex over love, kill over being killed.

It is mechanical, and ritualistic, keeps repeating the same behaviors over and over, and it is incapable of learning from past mistakes. It controls our very basic, anatomic survival functions, such as breathing and heartbeat, and therefore it is active even in deep sleep. It acts like a “bodyguard”; all muscle, no brain”, aggressive, territorial, rigid, obsessive, compulsive, ritualistic and paranoid. not someone you would bring home to introduce to Mom, nor someone you would like to move in and start a relationship with, but very handy to have in a dark alley walking you to your car after closing hour at the local watering hole.

The reptile brain tends to be blamed for every human behavior that is "bad"; it is savage, stubborn, agressive and certanly not discerning. It would be tempting to think, that getting rid of, or at least gaining total control of this brain by our "higher brains and consciousness" would be a good way to go to create personal and universal happiness, love, peace and contentment.

Not so fast. There are situations in this world, when acting first and thinking later are the right way to go. Imagine, that there is an object (say, a rock) hurling through space at high speed. Your reptile brain does not stop to "think", to "feel", but it makes you jump out the way, or at least, move your head, before you can even think "WTF?!" (What are The Facts?!)

There are situations, where being paranoid is a good thing. If I PERCEIVE a large, potentionally dangerous object coming straight toward my head, I don't want to stop and analize the facts, I don't want to know, if it is real,is it an optical illusion, is it a flicker of my imagination, I don't want to ponder the meaning of life and death, I rather stay alive, I dont' want to be zen, and I do not want not to judge, I don't want excude loving kindness to the damn rock, I want out of the way.

Although it might appear to be rather dull, stupid, out of control and uncivilized, our reptile brain is in control and is responsible for keeping us alive, and if it was not so good at it, we would have never had the opportunity to evolve, we would be, at best still Komodo Dragons, at worst, extinct dinosaurs.

When it is not fighting, the Reptile Brain acts as head of Maintenance and Housekeeping. Some of us have trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time, never mind if we had to consciously move every muscle and think of each next step, never mind having to keep all other systems going, from circulation to digestion, imagine we would have to think and feel through every breath and every hearbeat. In fact, of all the brains, this brain never stops! It is fully active, even when we sleep.

Why, we could not walk, eat, have sex, or do any of the more civilized, beautiful and sensible things we do, if it was not for the Reptile Brain keeping us alive and keep moving.

The Reptile Brain does this all and more, without thinking, without feeling, and until we come up with a better, more reliable system, I am voting for keeping the Lizzard Bodyguard.