{"id":37252,"date":"2024-04-06T12:56:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T19:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37252"},"modified":"2024-04-06T15:29:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T22:29:59","slug":"its-just-my-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/its-just-my-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Just My Brain!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. David Rock kindly reminds his readers that our brains have performance limitations. He writes, “As you learn more about your brain, you begin to see that many of your foibles and mistakes come down to the way your brain is built.” [1] In Rock’s Your Brain at Work<\/em>, he explains the mechanics and purpose of the brain’s prefrontal cortex in decision-making processes and solving problems. Although important, the prefrontal cortex is limited. [2] Rock describes the prefrontal cortex as a “small stage” in a small theater. We can simultaneously handle only a few actors on the small stage (e.g., all the information that comes at us). Rock states, “The reason is similar to the explanation of why the stage is small: each process uses incredible amounts of energy and many of the same circuits, so it’s easy for competition for circuits to occur. It’s like using a calculator: you can’t multiply and divide two numbers at the same time.” [3] Meanwhile, Kahneman writes, “The often-used phrase ‘pay attention’ is apt: you dispose of a limited budget of attention that you can allocate to activities, and if you try to go beyond your budget, you will fail.” [4] Ultimately, we are limited to the number of activities we can do simultaneously. This can cause frustration with our limitations and the mistakes we make. However, Rock encourages readers to give themselves a break. It is just our brain.<\/p>\n

My original idea for a blog post was to write something encouraging on Rock’s thoughts concerning reappraisal and how reframing has improved my life when navigating difficult situations. However, my ideas for encouraging words were abruptly halted on Friday morning. The morning did not seem any different than others, except that I had overslept. Unfortunately, I did not know that roughly 20 minutes before I woke up, a man had broken into the house and, upon hearing noises upstairs, had hidden under the bed in the guest bedroom. In the end, the man was arrested, and I was safe. I do not know what will happen with him now. I share this story as a catharsis, but I also confess that my ability to make clear decisions on Friday (and currently) has been severely affected. The stress-inducing experience exhausted my prefrontal cortex. I had gone limbic. Rock explains, “The limbic system fires up far more intensely when it perceives a danger compared to when it senses a reward.” [5] He continues, “When overly aroused by real or imagined dangers (or the rarer strong rewards), the limbic system impairs your brain functioning in a number of significant ways.” [6] This was evident during the morning of the break-in. Rock gives an example of how the brain of a Harvard MBA student can be turned into that of an eight-year-old when forced to do more than two things at once. [7] I experienced firsthand the limitations Rock discusses in the text. I could not manage all that was happening.<\/p>\n

Although our brains have performance limitations, Rock outlines ways to navigate situations that normally send us into a limbic state. He further describes the importance of agency in uncertainty. We can use tools to gain a sense of control over the uncertainty. Ultimately, we do not need to stay stuck in the feelings of being “out of control.” Eve Poole writes concerning evocative stimuli, “You can train emotional regulation first by controlling attention to emotionally evocative stimuli, then by cognitively changing their meaning.” [8] A type of cognitive change is reappraisal or reframing. Rock states, “Over and over, scientists see that the perception of control over a stressor alters the stressor’s impact.” [9] However, one way to gain back a sense of control is to reappraise or reframe a situation. Rock’s reappraisal recommendation resonates with me, as I have been mulling over the happenings of Friday’s break-in. Additionally, I am considering Rock’s warning that reappraisal in the wrong direction can alter a perspective for the worse. This can have harmful effects. Overall, Rock\u2019s Your Brain at Work <\/em>came at a perfect time for the difficult situation I am facing. When faced with many stressors over a short period, I will naturally experience performance limitations, but “it’s just my brain!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] David Rock, Your Brain at Work, Revised and Updated: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long<\/em> (p. 135). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[2] David Rock. Your Brain at Work<\/em>, (p. 34). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[3] David Rock. Your Brain at Work<\/em>, (p. 107). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[4] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em> (p. 23). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[5] David Rock, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, (p. 107). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[6] David Rock, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, (p. 107). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[7] Ibid, 107.<\/p>\n

[8] Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em> (p. 81). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[9] David Rock, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, (p. 107). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. David Rock kindly reminds his readers that our brains have performance limitations. He writes, “As you learn more about your brain, you begin to see that many of your foibles and mistakes come down to the way your brain is built.” [1] In Rock’s Your Brain at Work, he explains the mechanics and purpose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2681,2967],"class_list":["post-37252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rock","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37252"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37266,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37252\/revisions\/37266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}