Third Cohort, Session 4 · Neuroscience and Awareness

The instinctive brain is 360 million years old, the emotional brain 200 million years old, and the rational brain 2.5 million years old

Key insights

The instinctive brain is 360 million years old, the emotional brain 200 million years old, and the rational brain 2.5 million years old. It’s normal to realize things only in hindsight, because the rational brain is only 1 year old, while the emotional brain is 50.Training awareness means training the brain’s prefrontal cortex, so the rational brain can come online sooner.

3.1 The Triune Brain Theory

Three Brain Layers

• Instinctive brain (reptilian brain): 360 million years old
  • The oldest
  • Responsible for survival
  • Fight or flight
  • Instinctive Responses
  • The fastest
• Emotional brain (mammalian brain): 200 million years old
  • Emotional experiences
  • Memory storage
  • Social relationships
  • Intermediate response
  • Relatively fast
• Rational brain (human brain): 2.5 million years old
  • Logical thinking
  • Language and planning
  • Awareness and judgment
  • Slowest to respond
  • The youngest (1 year old)

Order of responses

• When something happens:
• ↓
• The instinctive brain reacts first (to protect itself)
• ↓
• The emotional brain catches up (and emotions arise)
• ↓
• The rational brain comes online last (and only then do you think)
• ↓
• Result: You only realize afterward that you shouldn't have gotten angry
• The time lag:
  • Instinct: milliseconds
  • Emotion: seconds
  • Reason: seconds to minutes

3.2 Why we realize things only afterward

Age comparison

• If the brain were a person:
  • The instinctive brain: a 100-year-old (rich in experience)
  • The emotional brain: a 50-year-old (mature and steady)
  • The rational brain: a 1-year-old baby (just learning to walk)
• Conclusion:
  • When something happens, the old person moves first
  • The middle-aged person catches up
  • The baby is the last to catch on
  • So it's normal to realize things only afterward

The logic of evolution

• Why the rational brain is the slowest:
  • Survival comes first
  • Stay alive first, think later
  • When danger strikes, run first and ask questions later
  • Only later do you wonder, "What was that just now?"
  • This is a protective mechanism
• The problem:
  • There is less danger in modern society
  • But the brain still has its old setup
  • So we often "overreact"
  • The rational brain needs training

3.3 Training awareness

What Is Awareness?

• Awareness = Seeing Yourself from a Third-Person Perspective
• Manifestations:
  • When emotions arise, I know
  • When thoughts arise, I see them
  • Don't get carried away by emotions
  • Don't get swept along by thoughts
  • Remain unshaken
• Examples:
  • Anger arises → "I notice that I'm feeling very angry right now"
  • Rather than → Immediately lashing out
  • Take an observer's perspective
  • Those involved lose perspective; onlookers see clearly

Training methods

1. Mindfulness meditation

• Observe your breathing
• Body Scan
• 10 minutes/day
• Train your attention

1. Observe your breathing

• Anytime, anywhere
• Take 3 deep breaths
• Bring your attention back to the present
• Interrupt automatic reactions

1. Body Awareness

• Notice bodily sensations
• The feeling of your feet touching the ground
• The feeling of your hands resting on a table
• Return to your body, return to the present

1. Name Your Emotions

• "I'm feeling very angry right now"
• "I notice that I'm feeling very anxious"
• Naming is awareness
• Create some distance

3.4 Awareness in the Moment

Levels of Awareness

1. Unaware and Unconscious (Ignorance)

• Lashing out as soon as emotions arise
• Regret afterward
• Most people are here

1. Awareness after the fact (beginning the practice)

• Realizing only after losing your temper
• Be more mindful next time
• Beginner level of practice

1. Awareness in the moment (being mindful)

• Recognizing emotions as they arise
• Having a choice: express your anger or not
• Intermediate level of practice

1. Awareness in advance (advanced skill)

• Taking preventive steps before emotions arise
• Addressing things in advance
• Advanced level of practice

Goal

• Training goal:
  • From unawareness → awareness in the moment
  • Bring the rational brain online faster
  • The ability to choose
  • Not being controlled by emotions
  • Being the master of your emotions

Key quotes

• "The instinctive brain is 360 million years old, the emotional brain 200 million years old, and the rational brain 2.5 million years old."
• "Awareness after the fact is normal: your rational brain is only 1 year old, while your emotional brain is 50 years old."
• "Training awareness means training the brain's prefrontal cortex."
• "Awareness means observing yourself from a third-person perspective."
• "From unawareness to awareness in the moment."
• "Notice your thoughts without being swept away by them."
• "Naming brings awareness and creates distance."

Practical application

Daily practice

1. Meditate for 10 minutes every day
2. Observe your breathing anytime, anywhere
3. Name emotions as they arise
4. Keep an awareness journal

When emotions arise

1. Stop: Take 3 deep breaths
2. Notice: Notice your emotions and thoughts
3. Name: Name the emotion
4. Choose: Choose how to respond

Practice checklist

• ☐ Meditate for 10 minutes today
• ☐ When an emotion arises, name it
• ☐ Practice taking a third-person perspective
• ☐ Write about a time you realized something only in hindsight
• ☐ Practice observing your breath 5 times