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Control and Values
When we say that our father or spouse or employer controls us, that is not strictly-speaking true. Despite the feeling that we are sometimes being controlled by someone else, our behaviour is ALWAYS under the control of brain-mind processes associated with our own body. That control is exercised by the particular brain-mind process that is dominant at the moment, and the particular hierarchy of value priorities which exists at that moment. It is convenient to think of three distinct brain-mind processes, each having its own hierarchy of values:
* the instinctive/reactive process (located in the earliest parts of our brain to evolve -- the structures of the brain stem and limbic system),
* the intellectual process (typically located in the left hemisphere of the cortex -- the brain's outer layer), and
* the intuitive process (generally believed to be located in the right hemisphere of the cortex). These processes and their values work together to make our decisions and control our behaviour in the same way that a computer's hardware and software work together to make the computer's decisions and control its outputs. We can look at the three brain-mind processes mentioned above as the hardware of our behavioural control system. The internalized values that each process works with are a key part of its software. All values are not created equal. Depending on circumstances, one value will take priority over another. Eating supper at 6 p.m. may be one of your values, but it is not apt to be the controlling value if your house happens to be on fire at that hour. Values are arranged in a constantly shifting hierarchy of priority. When it appears that we are being controlled by another person, we have simply assigned great value to the desires of that person. We have given their wishes a high priority in our hierarchy of values. Some values such as bodily survival, territoriality, and sexual reproduction appear to be "hard wired" into the instinctive/reactive process. But a hierarchy of learned, internalized, but inherently changeable values are stored in the cortex where they are used by the intellectual and intuitive processes in evaluating situations, making decisions, and initiating behaviours. It is also possible that the intuitive process comes pre-programmed with certain values -- the Golden Rule and other values of conscience, for example, and some of the values we call "wise." One or more of these brain processes, together with its hierarchy of values, is always in charge of our lives. If we don't like the values we have internalized, or the particular mental process that is calling the shots, then we must change things. By being selective about the influences we expose ourselves to, and the mental habits we develop, we can influence
* the mix and relative priority of our internalized values, and
* which brain-mind process is in control.
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
The Wisdom Page
Premier source of information about wisdom
www.wisdompage.com
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