Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Hi Ellen - I'm new here. Thank you for a thought-provoking post. It sparks a question I'm not sure I can't frame well, but I'll try. First, the facts I think I know (although all is in question and corrections are welcome): the amygdalas are real structures with a real job to do, right? They help ensure my survival. Jack Bauer seems to never have a moment free from his amygdalas, poor man. it seems to have honed his willingness to make the nasty decisions and eroded his options: he grows ever more willing to torture, kill, etc. This seems like amygdalas run amok, and a bad thing to watch because it affects my plastic brain.

Except, I think he's a bit of a moron and the show is absurd. So absurd, I stopped watching years ago. Before I stopped though, I enjoyed having someone else resolve situations that reminded me of the ones I was having to solve differently in my real life. So might my attitude - knowing it was simplistic and not even remotely real - have changed the way the show affected my brain when I was watching it? Or was I becoming more like Jack without knowing it?

I remember the studies done years ago about the effect on kids when the violence was removed from fairy tales: The kids got more anxious. As I recall, vicarious violence seemed to help kids discharge with their real-world anxiety. I remember this a somewhat different than venting, although I may be wrong. I'll take a guess and say that the physical nature of the fairly tale violence (stuffing the witch in the oven, running away) may have helped the amygdala get a vicarious version of what it wanted but couldn't have in real life: fight or flight.

Might the show "24" serve a similar purpose for those who can tell the difference between fantasy and reality? We have a lot of unresolved anxiety that needs helping.

I'm really asking, and honestly confused by all this. I suppose I fear becoming scientific fashion victim: yesterday it's fight or flight, set point and venting (butter will kill you, eat margarine), today it's plasticity and you can get around even the structure of your brain (it's the margarine that's killing you, eat butter).

I'm so hoping you can help me out here.

Hi Liz and welcome to the Brain Based Business community!

Thank you for your kind words. Great question too and you framed it very well indeed.

If Jack Bauer were real (and there are folks like him out there in real life) then he would have wired (through each violent act) to solve problems with violence and as a bully will repeatedly try to get a resolution through intimidation. Each time he acts violently he increases the liklihood of doing so again -- as he physically rewires his brain's plasticity for more violence.

Yes, we can all become more like Jack without being aware - and those who are weaker in areas of the brain that hold ethics (sometimes called intrapersonal intelligence) can easily act violently - simply because they have stored violent approaches in the basil ganglia -- which is the habit forming areas of the brain.

Luckily the opposite is also true. Act out of powerful peace plans for instance - and you'll store in your brain's cache of tools - peaceful approaches to solve problems. Or try a compassionate action today -- and you'll rewire for more genuine compassion as a lifestyle tomorrow.

The question then becomes -- how do we wish to encourage a nation's brainpower for progress, growth, and well-being-- especially for solutions when faced with genuine challenges. Ireland chose peace in deliberate actions -- and it paid amazing dividends as they zoomed ahead of the world financially and in many other ways. Does that make sense, Liz? What do you think?

Ellen, I had never heard of Jack Bauer, nor did I know that Dick Cheeny was a Jack Bauer fan. Just reading what you say here does not entice me to follow the links to see his antics -- because (for all the reasons you've listed) I run from violence.

It's not pretty when we consider how it takes so many innocent lives and is essentially brawn and emotions run amuck - without brains involved.

I'm sad to hear bullies like Jack Bauer are gaining followers -- because it does not show very much about the state of our nation. What do you think?

Robyn, it's interesting that you too zero in on the state of our nation. We really need to see a vision for health -- and then find ways that we can chase that vision, and still have adventure and fun -- without violence shaping our paths.

Well, that's my 2-bits - and I keep senseing we could do it through taking the human brain and its extravagance a bit more seriously - and in ways that benefit us all:-) Nuff said - but thanks for the great insights here.

Hi, I'm in one of Dr McMaster's classes, and she opened the door to including your content in our coursework.

As for the notion: "Watching Violence and you Change your Brain" remains for me unchallenged. However: "Whatever you engage in mentally or physically is what you wire your brain’s plasticity to engage in more." I submit, within this context, argument.

I have been in the Military and have extinguished lives in a very violent manner. Among other more noble meditations, I have and continue to add viewing content rich in violence. Yet, I have after 35 years of life only been in personal conflicts that ended in or included physical activity.

Is there not a nexus where higher paths can not be taken? I would submit that while certain segments of world wide societies may have evolved beyond the point of violence, in other segments ignorance reigns and violence is supreme.

The Shaolin are peaceful yet spend a great deal of time pursuing the martial arts. I would venture to say that their martial pursuits provide a very unique perspective of peace. How would peace be defined without violence? It is an interesting conversation.

I would like to add that while preparing to engage extreme force, I don't revel in it. There is no real satisfaction for me. "They won't let us win." is ignorance. When we reach a warlike state, I see only mitigating states of loss on all sides. Also, I consider torture to be dishonorable, and a crime against the fabric of humanity. You can rest assured that this military policeman will not tolerate mistreatment of POWs!

Yet, I have after 35 years of life only been in ONLY A HANDFUL OF personal conflicts that ended in or included physical activity

Thanks for your wonderful insights and for the thoughtful response here that nudges this discussion into deeper water, Joe. You are a real leader and thanks for the inspiration to all of us!

The statement ... "Whatever you engage in mentally or
physically is what you wire your brain's plasticity to engage in more..." comes from delightful new research that should help us rethink what shapes all we do on a daily basis.

Stop doing it (whatever that happens to be) and move beyond it -- and the dendrite brain cells you connected for that behavior will literally float away from your main cell connectors - over time. Eventually these dendrite connectors will no longer be the mental network that's alive and guiding our daily acts. It's kind of cool when you consider it:-)

Thanks for your faithful service to us all, Joe! Thanks even more for the depth and insight you bring to discourse on the topic of peace and violence and how we view each! Your own sacrificial and courageous service in the Military was done for a cause larger than life -- and it was felt deeply by many.

To respond to your question ... yes, certainly there is a nexus where higher paths are be taken. However, the neurological research that is coming out is helping us to rethink some of the violence issues we face in our communities. It's a wonderful moment in history for the kind of deep thinking you've generated here!

We certainly do NOT have all the answers -- as research rarely does:-) but it adds a wonderful new element to discussions ... when it helps to change how we think or act - based on dynamic new facts.

Your compelling question, Joe, ... "How would peace be defined without violence?... offers a brilliant new look at the topic of violence and peace -- and invites the best minds in the field to rethink its answer. Wow -- what an amazing challenge for all of us to answer!

You leave me thinking DEEPLY, and also leave me grateful for an online community with such acumen to lay issues on the table ... with amazing acumen and tone - so that we can all take another look at the good stuff that impacts us and those we care about! Thanks for the offering Joe - so glad you stopped by!