The Science Behind Your Lizard Brain and Why You Can’t Control It
Because despite what the textbooks say, you are not a lizard.
Let me start by saying addressing the elephant in the room. Yes, that picture is a room full of evil, distorted-looking reptiles conjured up by the drug connoisseur and well-renowned author, Hunter S. Thompson, whilst on an acid trip.
Although this article has nothing to do with Hunter, this pic from his novel popped into my head after hearing yet another person refer to our lizard brain, as if we’re all actually reptiles just pretending to be humans. Maybe you’ve heard the term?
People speak of the “reptilian brain” as if we’ve got some small ancient fossil inside of our brains. It’s used in marketing to appeal to your inhibitions and animalistic desires, but that’s not actually what’s happening when you give into your impulses.
We’re not easily influenced because we’re all living with an unhinged lizard brain, or monkey brain for that fact. It’s just not that simple, and when it comes to our minds, we shouldn’t make things more complicated by repeating unnecessary and false theories, like this one. …sigh. Let’s go back to the facts, shall we?
