This is you talking

We have modules in the brain, clusters of neurons that have evolved over time to serve different purposes. They sense danger, react to fear, help solve problems, send and receive messages. These modules are like the additions built onto an old house a dormer here, another bedroom, an expanded kitchen. All of these cerebral embellishments serve their purpose, and they all experience the world in their own ways, yet they are all also interconnected. They process information and experience feelings. In a sense they are multiple minds, each with its own peculiar slant on the world – aural, visual, emotional, intellectual, visceral. But they have one shortcoming: They cannot articulate what they are experiencing because they are not verbal – they evolved before language. However, says Gazzaniga (Michael), the more recently evolved, vocal part of our brain can speak to them and their experiences, and for the actions and experiences of others. It may not speak accurately about them, but it can speak, and it does. He calls this part of the brain “the interpreter.”

And so throughout the day we act and feel based on the experiences of other unconscious parts of our brain, and as a result we may grow elated or depressed or suspicious without any clear reason. The sources of those feelings could be as varied as cloudy skies, a fovirite song, an old memory, an unconscious but crippling fear, even the body language of our boss or spouse. These ripple into our conscious mind, and the interpreter makes up stories to explain them to ourselves or to others. It translates them into verbal symbols and rationalizes our behavior. We need those rationalizations to make sense out of the world. or as Jeff Goldblum’s character in the moved “the Big Chill” put is, “Don’t knock rationalization . . . I don’t know anyone who can get trough the day without two or three juicy rationalizations”

But just because the interpreter can tell us stories about our experiences doesn’t mean the explanations resemble reality. After all, we don’t know where most of our thoughts, actions, and feelings come from. But when they force themselves into our consciousness, the interpreter is driven to explain them. “The interpreter demands an explanation for felt states and behaviors. It won’t let go,” says Gazzaniga. “It is an absolutely crucial element [of the human animal], and there really isn’t any evidence that any other species does it.”

Perhaps this is why we appear to be the only self-aware animals: the speaking part of our mind bestows upon us that elusive thing we call our “self.” It may be a grand illusion fabricated by clusters of neurons, but neurons that together constitute the single voice that tells each of us that we are of one mind, even though we are in fact of many. If it weren’t for this voice we would all suffer from a kind of species-wide case of schizophrenia, or multiple personality disorder. Or we might experience life as a series of disconnected events with no “self” to experience, symbolize, or reflect on them. And bankrupt of language and speech, and interpreter that they make possible, you and I would be without that voice in our heads that tells us, “This is you talking” ~ Page 135-136