"The brain is the most fascinating object in the universe. Every human brain is different, the brain makes every human being unique and defines who he or she is".
Stanley B. Prusiner
(Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1997)
Discoveries about the brain and how it works are of great interest to scientists and non-scientists alike. News about breakthroughs in the field of neuroscience is about curing diseases, improving our education system, developing more effective sales strategies or answering questions about dreams, emotions or addictions.
The triune brain theory may not be accepted by the entire scientific community, but its basis is very simple and it is used in the business world to explain the decision-making mechanisms we humans have today. Our brain is the most complex system known, so if we want to understand it, it is necessary to find patterns and regularities in its functioning and structure, looking for useful and simple explanations.
Paul MacLean, an American physician and neuroscientist, developed the theory of the triple brain in 1970. According to this view, the brain had undergone three major stages of evolution as a result of which higher mammals have three brains in one: the reptilian, the limbic system and the neocortex. Each of these three brain systems has its own logic of functioning and has appeared in our evolutionary line sequentially, one on top of the other.
- The brain Reptilian is the primitive brain that has ensured our survival over millions of years and is based on instincts: it is functional, territorial and seeks to preserve life. Being the first to appear, it would be the structure that carries out the most basic and important functions for survival and action.
- Subsequently, the brain appeared LimbicThe emotional brain, that of lower mammals, a more evolved part of the reptilian brain that decides whether something is pleasant or unpleasant and is responsible for regulating our emotions and feelings. Thanks to the emotional brain we can love, hate, be sad, confident or worried.
- Finally, the third brain according to Paul MacLean's theory is the Neocortexso called because it is the most evolutionarily modern layer of the brain. It is the one that most differentiates us from animals, being the outermost structure of the human brain and the centre of logical and rational thought. It allows us to have consciousness and to control and understand emotions: we not only feel, but we find logic and can modulate and manage these feelings.
This simple MacLean triune brain theory helps us to analyse and understand the three aspects of decision-making: doing-feeling-thinking. If we follow the evolutionary order explained above, we would first do, then feel something and finally analyse it. What happens when this is the sequence of our actions? We get carried away by our instincts, we do not control our emotions, we react: it is that part of the human being that puts us on the same plane as a lizard or a crocodile, the primitive side that pushes us to act as reptiles have been doing for millions of years.
According to psychologist Daniel Golemanfather of Emotional Intelligencepositive management of emotions is more decisive for success than IQ. We could therefore speak of a Financial-IQ: 90% emotional and 10% technical information about finances. Hence the importance of understanding our brain and being aware of our emotions in order to endow them with intelligence when dealing with money. Considering that the Financial-IQ has little theory, the basis for a healthy economy and being at ease with the situation is based on knowing oneself.
Analyse how you act, what your decision-making order is, which brain predominates according to what aspect of your life you are considering, and do this in particular with money. When you spend, save or invest, do you think before you act, do you let yourself be carried away by emotion, by wanting to appear, do you not analyse what you are going to do until it is hopeless? If we do not want to be carried away by instincts and emotions, we must pay attention to our actions and be aware of what we are doing or deciding at all times. And the first important thing is to be aware of how you make decisions, without judging or criticising yourself. As Stephan Covey said "Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it is sacred ground. There is no greater investment.
The references in these articles to brain structures are made in a simplified, not exhaustively scientific method, in order to facilitate their understanding and application to everyday life.
Next week: Use your brain to make good decisions.
Summa Cum Laude graduate in Business Administration and Management with a Minor in Economics from The American University of Paris, as well as a Master in Finance from ICADE. She recently completed a Master in Emotional Intelligence at the Hune Institute.
For 25 years she was Director of the Innovation and Product Departments at Banif and Andbank. She is currently Manager at Dextra Corporate Advisorsindependent boutique of M&A and corporate, and director of Navis Capital Desarrollo, SGEIC, an alternative investment fund manager registered with the CNMV. She is also a member of the association WA4STEAMan international community of women business angels seeking to expand the female presence in STEAM fields by providing not only capital, but also by becoming a strategic partner for future leaders.
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