taming the amygdala - alive why

taming the amygdala

aristotle points out the difficulty of analyzing the mind, soul, intellect
and feels that not all of this is explained by natural science

the progression of survival,
selecting a more and more able cerebral cortex
or a more and more able objective mind
results progressively
in a cortex which can turn its focus on the mind
and more specifically on
the interaction of cortex and amygdala

this is happening now with more and more focus on emotion
with the inputs of many disciplines

reading the attempts of many philosophers
over the centuries to grapple with
the mind
reveals a plethora of terms, relationships, proposed interactions,
but no explanation of the glaring problem
at the centre of the question...
why are there two parts of our mind?
...which seem so often in conflict

the explanation is this:

as we realize that we are selected by survival
then this two part mind
is also inevitably chosen by survival

the driver for all thought is emotions through the amygdala
without which we would be catatonic
just as an ant would be immobile without its driving programme

this driver is not to be tampered with...
or our urge towards survival
(activity, procreation, nurturing, success...)
would be threatened

so the cortex and amygdala have been kept well apart,
to prevent our cortex from interfering with the amygdala
and weakening the survival programme.

the amygdala is like a sorcerer
with the cortex completely spellbound
and brilliantly so,
because it is totally unaware...
that every impulse it has is charged by the amygdala
the amygdala which is perfectly disguised
as ourselves

the amygdala which can and will dominate as and when

this dominion is tempered by intuitive secular and religious wisdom,
with varying degrees of success

but without any plausible reason from secular or religious wisdom
to explain why being wise and stoic,
to resist the wild urges of the amygdala.

being wise and stoic can be so terribly difficult,
because there doesn't seem to be a reason
why half of our mind reasons one thing
and the other half screams the other...

the explanation for this age old dilemma is that

emotions are a dna survival programme
with:
dominance
durability
inscrutability

and multiple conflicting demands

and they will only allow
for the cortex:

degrees of control
and glimpses of understanding

so the cortex has only fleeting impressions of what the amygdala does
and normally is left cowering in the wake of the amygdala
and accepts this
because all humans accept this
as normal
and after thousands of years it is normal
like breathing
but a rampaging programme that takes all before it
is hardly an ideal setup

until we see this dna survival programme
as in charge of us

even though we all think we are in charge of ourselves
...we are doomed to repeat mistakes at all levels

once we see that it is like the programme that drives ants
in its massive power
that it is old and has rarely even been seen properly by the cortex
that it doesn't have a plan
that all it does is survive
that we can be psychopathic, criminals or meth heads,
as long as we procreate and nurture

once we see this
then the problem has a simple explanation

after which stoicism has a reason
how this came about...
an explanation for what caused it to be
an explanation for why it is hard to always be good
an explanation for why stoicism is not easy

the driver programme has been kept very separate from the cortex
through all the ages

and has thus not the sophistication of the cortex
now, maybe the cortex will come to understand the amygdala