The lazy lizard brain
Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman is an exciting book that will help readers understand how the human mind works, analyzing the surroundings and making decisions. This exploration that earned Daniel Kahneman a Nobel peace prize is close to 500 pages and shares excellent details of our thinking process.
Two Systems: Kahneman explains there are two systems; System 1 and System 2. System 1 works speedily and is automatic with little or no effort, while system 2 is slow, deliberate, and effortful, working with concentration, choice, and decision-making.
The Lazy Brain: “Laziness is built deep into our nature”[1]. Who has the time to engage in complicated problems when we have System 1 for easy retrieval? Thinking Fast and Slow can help avoid common biases of intuition, the assumptions leading to quick decisions that we jump to without much deliberation that Kahneman calls “Heuristics.”[2]
Kahneman’s large volume comes with a great deal of information that I find overwhelming and eye-opening, like others that I have come across on brain health. A few other authors have brought my attention to Brain Health, and I find a lot of similarities with Daniel Kahneman’s work.
Dr. Troncale adds, “In 1954, the limbic cortex was described by neuroanatomists. Since then, the brain’s limbic system has been implicated as the seat of emotion, addiction, mood, and many other mental and emotional processes.”[3]
Dr. Rhoton’s research on trauma reveals, “Medical doctors as early as 1985 began discovering that early-life traumas were impacting their adult patients negatively and started thinking more in-depth about what that might mean throughout someone’s lifespan.”[4] My interest in addressing refugee childhood trauma found Rhoton’s work and concepts towards trauma treatment essential for post-traumatic growth. “We all have a unique range of tolerance to the environment that whenever that range is taxed, we immediately move into an adaptive or mitigating process”[5] It comes back to our brain and how it gets activated when we encounter various stressors. Childhood trauma issues, whether during war or other challenges that children face, will affect their behavior for a lifetime. Dr. Rhoton explained that when the sympathetic nervous system is activated, it changes the part of the brain we use. It is not a logic system; it is a reactive system”[6] The lizard brain is what Dr. Rhoton calls the part of our brain, and he says, “the suppressed executive function system is distracted with survival demands”[7] The lazy brain or lizard brain seems to have a lot in common especially the absence of logical thinking and being more reactive instead of following normal moral reasoning processes. “It is the part of the brain that is phylogenetically very primitive. Many call it the “Lizard Brain” because the limbic system is about all a lizard has for brain function. It controls the fight, flight, feeding, fear, freezing up, and fornication.”[8]
[1] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (New York, 1934).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Joseph Troncale, “Your Lizard Brain, the Limbic System and Brain Functioning” (April 22, 2014), https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/where-addiction-meets-your-brain/201404/your-lizard-brain.
[4] Robert Rhoton, Aubrey Thomas, and Eric Gentry, Transformative Care, A Trauma-Focused Approach to Caregiving (Arizona Trauma Institute, 2019).
[5] Certified Family Trauma Professional (CFTP) Online Training, Online Course, 2016.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Troncale, “Your Brain Today.”
About the Author
Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe
Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe is a Clinical Correctional Chaplain and former Child Refugee from War-torn Rwanda. A member of the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team, Jean is passionate about Servant Leadership and looks forward to seeing more leaders that inspire Lasting Peace and Justice for all, especially "the least of these".9 responses to “The lazy lizard brain”
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Hey Jean de Dieu,
Great observation on the connection of the Lizard Brain to Fast Thinking. I often hear the term ‘lizard brain” and I was not aware of where it came from. Based on the similarities, how might trauma effect the ways in which our fast thinking creates new biases?
Hi Chad,
Looking at various resources, I realize trauma inhibits the proper thinking process. Unless there is proper treatment thinking is more reactionary, fight or flight due to damaged emotions. I think system 1 has taken over entirely, and system 2 has no chance.
Hey Jean de Dieu,
It makes sense why system 1 thinking kicks in particularly for victims of trauma like you are studying. When you say “proper treatment”, what are examples of this? What are ways we can love people well, and help them our of operating primarily in their traumatize, system 1 brain?
David,
There are several forms of treatment here in the West. Referring to proper treatment, I believe it must be founded on love and relationship building. In the absence of able and present parents like my focus group (children surviving civil wars and conflicts), perhaps communities of faith would bridge the gap and respond to these needs.
Jean,
I had never heard the term “Lizard Brain” to describe the lazy brain, or system 1 thinking that goes into effect when people are traumatized. What a descriptive way to describe this type of thinking.
It’s my prayer that we as believers can be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to refugees that are hurting in our world today.
Thanks, Tonette,
It’s my prayer too. You’ve done great work with the Choctaw native children. The best care I have read so far is family-based; when families are wounded or deceased, communities of faith can be a family where parental love and care to those in need is provided, you have done an amazing job in that regard.
Jean, I appreciate this. Anya is a school psychologist and she often tells me how frustrating it is that people don’t understand how adverse childhood experiences can really affect how children’s brains operate. Even in Kahneman’s language, I imagine many people would just assume that children who experiences ACEs simply have a much smaller total attention budget when in reality their circumstances have only allowed for system 1 reactions.
At first I thought it was just a clever title. This was a very interesting an informative read. I found this fascinating and look forward to sharing it with my wife who was scientest for years. Its amazing that there are so many thought processes and instincts that we access and how are own feelings and emotions play a role. I really appreciated your personal take on it. Thank you, Jean.
Jean,
I too did not know what “Lizard Brain” was until reading your post.
I do believe childhood trauma can affect a person over a lifetime. However, Kahneman doesn’t believe that intuition can be developed – which impacts System 1 thinking. What is your belief in terms of trauma and intuitive development? (I would love to explore this with you at a later date.)