Democracy is not necessarily the best form of decision-making. But it’s our human destiny, in a very biological sense.
Modern science, however, refuses to recognize this obvious truth.
Take, for example, this quote from the 2009 book, Why Don’t Students Like School? written by cognitive scientist Daniel T. Willington:
Arguably the greatest mysteries in the universe lie inside the three-pound mass of cells, approximately the consistency of oatmeal, that resides in the skull of each of us. It has even been suggested that the brain is so complex that our species is smart enough to fathom everything — except what makes us so smart; that the brain is so cunningly designed for intelligence that it is too stupid to understand itself.
We now know that is not true. The mind is at last yielding its secrets to persistent scientific investigation. We have learned more about how the mind works in the last twenty-five years than we did in the previous twenty-five hundred.
Although cognitive scientist Daniel T. Willingham might be smart enough to get a book published — and earn 4.5 stars on Amazon.com — he still greatly offends me when he compares my brain to a three-pound bowl of oatmeal. I’m no scientist (which in fact gives me a considerable advantage over poor Mr. Willingham, as you will clearly see if you read this article to the end) but I would much prefer to have my brain compared to, say, a bowl of Jello. Or maybe a bowl of Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.
I understand, of course, that Mr. Willingham is also comparing his own brain to oatmeal — he did use the phrase “in the skull of each of us” which would naturally include himself — so we might find ourselves hesitant to spend $17 for a hardcover book written by an author who feels that way about his brain.
But the big problem with Mr. Willingham’s theories — and with similar theories proposed by cognitive scientists and neurologists who think they actually know something about human intelligence — is that their doctrines are so blatantly undemocratic. These foolhardy conjectures are based on the idea that “intelligence” is concentrated in the brain.
What a crock of oatmeal.
One thing Mr. Willingham and others willingly admit — are eager to admit, even, considering that they will mention the fact in the very first sentence of a book on cognitive science — is that the human brain weighs only about three pounds, fully dressed. That’s about 2 percent of the weight of a typical American. (Or about 1 percent of the weight of a typical American cursed with a fondness for Ben & Jerry’s.)
Have we totally forgotten about the four pound mass of cells, approximately the consistency of beef liver, that resides in the abdomen of each of us, just north and west of our stomachs? I am referring, of course, to our liver. The brain might weigh three pounds; four pounds is 33 percent more than three, not even counting the gall bladder. But sadly, cognitive scientists fail to acknowledge that the human liver is pretty much essential to every thinking person. Without a liver, Mr. Willingham would be hard pressed to utter a coherent sentence, let alone write a 240-page book. Yet, as far as I can tell, the word “liver” doesn’t appear anywhere in those 240 pages.
Fact is, the human body has three- and four-pound organs spread all over our innards, and none of them get any credit for the smart (or stupid) things we do. That’s totally totally unscientific. If you — or someone like you — were to compile the number of poems and songs and romance novels that blame stupid decisions on the heart, for example, you would find out that the brain is not even in the running where stupid decisions are concerned.
But there is a much larger issue at stake — completely ignored by brain scientists, and by everyone else, as far as I can tell.
Biological democracy.
It’s well known, among people who know about these kinds of things, that the human body is in fact a physical community, much like a quaint rural town were everyone knows everyone else’s business and isn’t afraid to butt their big fat noses into it. I am speaking here of the community of microorganisms that reside in the large and small intestines of each of us.
From Wikipedia:
The human body carries about 100 trillion microorganisms in its intestines, a number ten times greater than the total number of human cells in the body. The metabolic activities performed by these bacteria resemble those of an organ, leading some to liken gut bacteria to a “forgotten” organ. It is estimated that these gut flora have around a hundred times as many genes in aggregate as there are in the human genome…
Bacteria in the gut fulfill a host of useful functions for humans, including digestion of unutilized energy substrates, stimulating cell growth, repressing the growth of harmful microorganisms, training the immune system to respond only to pathogens, and defending against some diseases.
90 percent of what we call “ourselves” is in fact other animals living inside us, and making decisions about how we will go about our lives.
Cognitive scientists assume that the 100 billion neurons contained in the oatmeal we call our brains somehow generate “intelligence.” (Or alternately, a “lack of intelligence.” There is evidence for both views.) What they utterly ignore is the fact that there are one-thousand times as many animals living in your gut as there are neurons in your brain. Does anyone honestly believe those animals are not weighing in on the decision-making process?
Think of the common expressions that human beings use every day.
“I knew it in my gut…”
“She turned my stomach…”
“Trust your gut instinct…”
“I gave her a bellyful of advice…”
“He knew all about the guts of the business…”
Despite the desires of cognitive scientists to convince you otherwise, most of your thinking takes place, not in the brain, but in your intestines. Anyone who has tried dieting — any kind of dieting — knows all too well that the brain does not control what we put in our mouths. 100 trillion tiny microorganism brains living in our bellies are casting their votes every moment on what we eat or don’t eat… because it’s the same thing that they eat or don’t eat. (The deeper meaning of the old expression, ‘You are what you eat.’)
Democracy is destiny, biologically speaking, and we are totally outnumbered. You are not in control of your thoughts, nor of your body; rather, your biological community has its democratic hand on the wheel.
Which explains why you are driving to Walmart at 11:55pm (seemingly against your will) to buy another pint of Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.