Lizard Brain

A friend recommended this podcast (thanks, Arjun!). It’s about outrage and social media and our lizard brains. I’m writing about it because — well — it outraged me.

Here’s the gist: Back in the day, long long ago, before we had social media, people used to interact with each other. We would outrage each other, sure, but because we knew each other, lived next to each other, were even related to each other, we controlled our outrage so we could get along. We kind of channeled the outrage in socially acceptable ways. Outrage was useful, because it helped us keep each other in line, but it wasn’t over-the-top.

Enter social media. Where people don’t necessarily know each other but are drawn to strong emotions, where people let loose in hopes of getting more “likes,” where there are few negative consequences to being outraged — and outrageous.

Where dopamine hits are free and plentiful.

Now our outrage is over-the-top and, because we’re able to enter into positive feedback loops via social media, it just accelerates. Until it dies out. And the next outrage hit sparks the pleasure centers in our lizard brains.

Here’s what outrages me:

The fact that human beings have these magnificent brains (and bodies, and minds, and souls) but for some reason allow their lizard brains to dominate. And here’s another thing that outrages me: The fact that we justify any number of unacceptable behaviors by referring to evolution and our pesky brain stems.

But the human organism is so much richer than that!

What keeps us from choosing self-control? perspective-taking? curiosity? love? compassion? What keeps us from choosing to keep the Nth open?

I genuinely want to know.

This is a blog about teaching, I know. Sorry for going all general, talking about humans and evolution and morality and stuff. But

isn’t teaching about being the best people we can be?

(My answer: Yes.)