Nature is an immaculate virgin, forever standing unrobed before us. Taken together, the caveman brain and the limbic system make up what I will call the emotional brain. The emotion brain is at the heart of the central nervous system, and its key take is to look out for your welfare. If it detects danger or a special opportunity—such as a promising partner—it alerts you by releasing a squirt of hormones. The resulting visceral sensations (ranging from a sensation of euphoria, mild queasiness, to the grip of panic in your chest) will interfere with whatever your mind is currently focused on and get you moving—physically and mentally—in a different direction. Even at their most subtle, these sensations have a huge influence on the small and large decision we make throughout our lives: what we choose to ear, where we like to sleep and with whom, what music we prefer, whether we like to garden or sing in a choir, and whom we befriend and whom we detest. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 5

The emotions brain’s cellular organization and biochemistry are simpler than those of the neocortex, our rational brain, and it assesses incoming information in a more global way. As a result, it jumps to conclusions based on rough similarities, in contrast with the rational brain, which is organized to sort through a complex set of options. (The textbook example is leaping back in terror when a crazy chick posts an alter picture of you two on social media—only to realize it is a coiled snake.) The emotional brain initiates preprogrammed escape plans, like the stand your ground or escape responses. These muscular and physiological reactions are automatic, set in motion without any thought or planning on our part, leaving our conscious, rational capacities to catch up later, often well after the threat is over. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 5

Finally, we reach the top layer of the brain, the neocortex. We share this outer layer with other mammals, but it is much thicker in humans. In the second year of life the frontal lobes, which makes up the bulk of our neocortex, begin to develop at a rapid pace. The ancient philosopher called seven years the age of reason. For us first grade is the prelude of things to come, a life organized around frontal-lobe capacities: sitting still; keeping sphincters in check, being able to use words rather than acting out; understanding abstract and symbolic ideas; planning for tomorrow; and being in tune with teachers and classmates. For instance, a good teacher, who wants to see you do well in life will not constantly present you with crazy lectures about divorces, cheating, fighting, feces, nor chaos. They want to tell you thing to enrich your life and help you have a better day. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 5

The frontal lobes of the brain are responsible for the qualities that make us unique within the Earthly kingdom. They enable us to use language and abstracts thought. The frontal lobes of the brain also give us our ability to absorb and integrate vast amounts of information and attach meaning to it. Despite our excitement about the linguistic feats of chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys, only human beings command the words and symbols necessary to create the communal, spiritual, and historical contexts that shape our lives. The frontal lobes of our brains allow us to plan and reflect, to imagine and play our future scenarios. They also help us to predict what will happen if we take one actions (like tearing down the mall) or neglect another (not paying the mortgage on the new King’s arena). The frontal lobes of the brain make choice possible and underlie our astonishing creativity. Generations of frontal lobes, working in close collaboration, have created culture, which got us out of slavery, to flying in jet planes, and using the internet. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 5

Things have their own psychology. The tiresome foray of psychology into the realm of individual human affairs has sidetracked us from giving attention to the work of soul in the World, trapping it for several centuries in the black box of subjectivity. The computer: what kind of thing is it? It is, after all, part of the World, and the compelling task before us is to find its soul by seeing through opinions, reactions, and judgments, through what we fear, desire, and wish and dream for, through the enthusiasm of technologist and the disgust of humanists—in order to let the computer speak for itself. The hands-on experts are not able to perceive the soul because they have come under its possession, and drunk with enthusiasm they are driven by it as if by a God or a Daemonic force. The video game was the LSD of the 80s; the computer is the cocaine of the 90s; and WiFi 5G connection and the Xanax and Molly of the roaring 2000s. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 5