How the Brain Works

Think of the brain as a three layered computer, with a left and a right side. The layers and the sides have their own functions and process information differently. All work together to allow you to live your life and make sense of the world around you.

Inside the brain is a fine network of connective wires, called neurons. Every time we learn something new, a new connection is made. All the things we know and all the things we do are stored in our brains as networks of connected neurons, in exactly the same way as a computer programme.

Thinking
When we learn something new it goes first into the outer of the three brain layers, called the Neocortex. This is the thinking brain and its function is to process new information as knowledge. It will remain as knowledge until applied in a situation as an experience.

Doing
As soon as you have an experience the information coming into your Neocortex from your five senses activates the synaptic networks and chemicals are released into your bloodstream. These chemicals are called feelings. You know you are having an experience because you are having a feeling. The second layer, the Limbic Brain is now activated. The Limbic Brain is a chemical brain and transforms the information into a physical sensation moving the new information from the mind into the body.

Being
If we keep repeating the experience the synaptic connections become permanent and the third layer of the brain, the Cerebellum, is activated. Once information enters this layer it has become a skill or habit and takes no effort to perform. It is controlled subconsciously and has moved from doing to being. In this way many activities can be mastered and practiced without conscious thought, such as languages, driving and touch-typing.

Getting Stuck
Skills are not the only types of information that are controlled by the subconscious. The repetition of attitudes, perceptions and beliefs can also become stored in the Cerebellum and like programmes on a computer hard drive, will run automatically when activated by a relevant stimulus. This does not even need to be something real, as our minds don’t distinguish between what appears real and what is only imagined. Due to neural networks, much of what we do and think happens without our conscious awareness.

Rewriting the Programme
The only way to change these stored programmes is to rewrite them from within the operating system of our brain/computer. We need to be able to access the subconscious level of the mind and become familiar with our unconscious thoughts. Once we have done this, we are able to make conscious decisions to change our behaviour and to make a plan for how we are going to think and act when the triggering circumstances occur. Repeating this changed behaviour modifies the neural networks and new connections are made. We literally change our minds at the chemical level.

Left and Right
Becoming free of unconscious patterns leaves the mind open for new ways of thinking. This is like clearing space on the hard drive of your computer so that new software can be loaded, and is where the two halves of the brain become important. Our Left and Right hemispheres organise information in very different ways.

The Left hemisphere works in sequence, remembering the past and projecting into the future. It is interested in details and handles language. We tend to know it as the voice in the head.

The Right hemisphere works with the present moment, is interested in the big picture and is good at recognising patterns and interpreting emotions. It is intuitive and holistic.

Our Left hemisphere is dominant in our development from childhood and therefore we tend to favour its logical, sequential interpretations of the world. Because it is dealing with concepts of past and future, it is the side of the brain most likely to activate our habitual behaviours, which are always triggered by a memory of something that has happened, or a fear of something that will happen. On the otherhand, our Right hemisphere is where our creativity lies, and it is this area that we access when we bypass the conscious mind. Because it exists in the present moment, it is unaffected by memory or anxiety, allowing us to make leaps of imagination free from fear.

A Whole New Mind

Daniel H. Pink – www.danpink.com – in his book “A Whole New Mind” has emphasised the importance of the Right Hemisphere as we shift from the Information Age into the Conceptual Age. Due to the demand for beautiful and meaningful products made available through the Abundance of cheap goods, increased Automation and the outsourcing to Asia of routine white-collar jobs, organisations are moving away from the strictly logical when they recruit and are valuing skills that are:

“High Concept – involving the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new; and
High Touch – involving the ability to empathise with others, to understand the subtleties of human interaction, to find joy in one’s self and to elicit it in others, and to stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning.”

Pink identifies six High Concept and High Touch aptitudes which are essential to the new era: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, Meaning.

Circular Sounds is a process that nurtures these “Six Senses” by using playful tools to uncover the blocks people have put on their creativity. To thrive in the “R-Directed” world of the future, we need to be able to recognise our unconscious patterns, rewrite our programmes and free ourselves to access the innate creative abilities we all possess.