Using brain modules for fun and profit
Author: S. H. Evans, Ph. D.

Brain modules must be about using your whole brain.

Sort of. That was a famous fad in psychology. Not the idea of using parts of the brain. People have always done that. Even psychologists. The fad part is talking about it.

The fad was called “whole brain thinking.” In that ancient tradition, the left side of your brain deals with processes that are logical, verbal, abstract, sequential, evaluative, and analytic. The right side of your brain is supposed to deal with processes that are imaginative, creative, gestural, intuitive, concrete, integrative, and global.

Now stop reading for a moment and guess what a brain scientist would say about this description.

No. Don’t read on. Imagine that you've asked the scientist about whole brain thinking.

What does the scientist say?

This is not a test. It is a call to the part of your brain that lets you predict what other people will say.

Of course, the scientist says, “It’s a lot more complicated.” Scientists always say things like that. They never say, “Well, it’s all solved and I’ll have to look for another job.”

But it is complicated. Technology can make colored pictures showing what brain modules are busy when you do some mental task. The upshot is that your brain can put together the modules it needs to do a job. If you talk, your talking modules light up. But if you are talking about an image from your memory, your seeing modules also light up.

So what modules in your brain light up when you think? That depends on what you mean by thinking. If your thinking is like talking to yourself, then you probably only light up the modules that handle speech. If you use your imagination, you probably light up whatever modules you need for that imagining job.

That doesn't mean that you can just turn on any modules you please. You will notice that when we asked you to imagine, we reminded you to stop reading. That’s because you imagine with some of the modules you use for reading. The two jobs will interfere with each other.

So you really don’t want to think with your whole brain. Those modules are like brain tools. You want to pick the best tools for a job.

What parts of the brain do what jobs? By now, this is so complicated that even a rocket scientist can’t keep up with it. (It takes a brain scientist.) But your brain already knows how to turn on modules. All you need to do is remind it. Maybe help it pick tools to fit the job. And keep other modules from getting in the way.

This simplest way to get your modules to work on a job is to ask yourself questions. Here are some questions to start with.

What will you be doing an hour from now? Don’t talk to yourself about it. Picture it in your head. Can you imagine doing something else instead?

When will you eat next? What will you eat? Don’t name it. Picture it. Imagine the smell. Imagine the feel of it in your mouth. Can you imagine eating something else instead?

How will you get to where you will eat? Imagine what you will do to get there. Can you imagine a different way to get there?

What familiar person are you most likely to see next? What will that person say? Imagine. How could you change what that person will say?

Which of these questions suggests an idea that you could use tomorrow?







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S. H. Evans was Professor of Psychology at Texas Christian University and an independent consultant in behavioral research. Now retired, he works with Dr. D. F. Dansereau, Professor of Psychology at TCU. They maintain a free website based on work by the Applied Cognitive Research Lab at TCU. This site, thinkerer.org, provides simple, commonsense tools for self-improvement, self-direction, and other psychological fixes.

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