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Brain Teaser Have You Heard of Lizard Brain? The human brain is an interesting and complex organ. The brain performs an incredible number of tasks- from controlling body temperature, heart rate and breathing to accepting and processing a flood of information, handling physical motion and most importantly thinking, dreaming, reasoning and experiencing emotions. Our day-to-day behaviour, decision making process (rational or irrational) and whatever takes on around the world (including the world of business) is a consequence of the functions of our brain. In his book, ‘Mean market and Lizard brain’, a former Harvard professor, Prof. Burnham, divides the human brain into two parts: the prefrontal cortex and the lizard brain and explains the biological causes of irrationality. The prefrontal cortex is where rationality and logic prevail (also known as the executive brain). Lizard brain is the area beneath the prefrontal cortex that responds more to emotion, present needs, pleasure, temptation, instincts and pain avoidance. It has less to do with reptile world but more with the fact that the human brain contains ancient structures, set of tendencies, hard wired ways of perceiving the world that exert powerful and often unconscious influences on behavior. In other words, the unconscious thought processes of our brain is yet to develop fully and it has inbuilt wishes to behave more like our ancestors. It pushes us to make impulsive choices that are exactly in opposition with what would best serve us. It is very good in seeing patterns (where none exist), looking backwards, repeating successful behaviors and be unrealistically optimistic or pessimistic.
It
is this dominance of the “lizard brain” that often leads to
irrational decision making and often get ourselves in trouble.
However, those
who understand and harness the lizard brain can turn
unfeasibility to possibilities! |
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List of Brain Teasers
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