Tags: [[Psychology]] - [[Neuroscience]] - [[Neurology]] - [[Habits]] - [[Reenforcement]] Type: ( Title: [[( 2020-12-30 Your Brain Is Not for Thinking]] Author: [[@Lisa Feldman Barrett]] Reference: <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/opinion/brain-neuroscience-stress.html> Publish Date: 2020-12-24 Reviewed Date: [[2020-12-30]] --- - [[The Brain and body respond like bank transactions]] like: - "Deposit a drink of water" - "withdraw energy to run away from this tiger" - Because the brain is transactionary with the body it monitors inputs and outputs both physically and also mentally. - Your brain also anticipates needs like the need for you to drink water after waking so it calculates for this and makes you thirsty and when you drink then you feel your thirst quenched, even thought the effects of that waters consumption will not be immediately felt in the body. - This is because your brain is anticipating the body's needs and exerting influence over you by facilitating the transactions necessary to fulfill the body's needs > "This budgetary account of how the brain works may seem plausible when it comes to your bodily functions. It may seem less natural to view your mental life as a series of deposits and withdrawals. But your own experience is rarely a guide to your brain’s inner workings. Every thought you have, every feeling of happiness or anger or awe you experience, every kindness you extend and every insult you bear or sling is part of your brain’s calculations as it anticipates and budgets your metabolic needs." > > <div class="signature"> - Dr. Barrett </div> - Every mental transaction affects you. - If you insult someone, are constantly insulted, consume negative media, and facilitates a negative self image: "i hate myself" then this changes your mental state. - you become angrier - more hateful - more likely to loathe yourself - To encourage happiness and facilitate a happier life we need to endeavor to deposit more positive than negative content into our mental "banks"