The Human Brain

Human behavior comes from the human brain. This text seeks further definition of man, that
portion of man which resides in his brain. It uses prior information found in separate texts on
genetics, evolution and developmental history, to further understand the current physical
structure of the human neural system. The overall goal of this text, along with others in the
series, is to provide a basis in fact of the nature of man for use in developing those social
studies (education, psychology, sociology, etc.) so necessary for the formation and
maintenance of culture. The basis now used for these study areas is erroneous and the
development of these social studies is now pure conjecture and imagination. This following
study of the brain is confined to those features of the brain which determine or contribute to
human behavior.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
CONCLUSIONS
THE NEURAL SYSTEM BEFORE MAN
EXPLORATION METHODS
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAIN
A CASE OF COOPERATION
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
PROVIDING FUNCTION
DIRECTION AND DRIVE: THE CONFLICT OF LIFE
EDUCATING AND TRAINING THE HUMAN
REFERENCES
Summary of Findings
During the development of the human neural system, there were six eras of improvement in
function:
 1. The direct reaction to a sensor signal. This earliest development of a neural system was a
simple but fast functional response to the stimulation of a sensor. A given sensor signal
resulted in a given fixed action. A pure example of this early neural process is still
observable in some single-cell animals using photo-synthesis which will sense the direction
of light and swim toward it. Man has many of these reactive neural elements, from the blink
of an eye (a physical movement), to apprehension of the dark (a decision coloration).
 2. The instinctive response to an inherited pattern which is associated with danger or food.
A sensor observes the environment and compares the received sensor pattern with an
inherited pattern. A current example exists in some nesting birds. Wave a cutout in the
shape of a hawk over the nest and the chick will cringe. Wave a cutout corresponding to the
parent's outline and it will make a noise and open its mouth for food. Although superseded
(and largely diminished or perverted by mutations as a result of disuse), many still occur in
man in the form of anxieties: sleeplessness during full moon comes from an inherited fear
of danger from predators on such nights. Fear of height refers to the arboreal phase of man's
ancestry. Claustrophobia (once an aid to survival) developed when confined in dark caves
along with possible predators. Racial bigotry came from millions of years of militant tribal
 relationships, where any difference in personal appearance signaled danger.
 3. The development of sensory memory and comparison. The fixed danger or need pattern
was largely replaced in the higher animals by sensor memory and comparison. Remembered
sensor experiences, all properly graded with descriptions of associated fear, hunger or lust,
are constantly compared with the sensor's current view of the environment. Highly
developed in man, it is more limited in the other higher species. This memory is not limited
to experiences within the environment. It is here that the animal may be trained. This entire
process is instinctive (programmed in neural circuitry). We refer to it as 'intuition' and it is
highly successful in the day to day living experience. It is the most used thought process in
man by far, most humans rarely use any other process. We learn to drive a car, prepare our
food, speak a language, and follow the customs of our culture, using this intuitive process.
This is an instinctive (intuitive, fixed process, neural signal reconciliation and conflict
resolution, state function) process, not an intelligent one. It is so refined in man that it
appears to him to be intelligent. It is not.
 4. The ability to imagine, to mentally construct sensor patterns, remember them, and then
use them as if they were real in the value summation neural circuits, provides a creativity
element in the instinctive value summation process. Observable in the other higher animals,
it is most prevalent in predators under great food stress. They will develop intricate hunting
scenarios. If unsuccessful, they will as quickly develop new ones.
 5. Conscious thought, an awareness of identity, a feeling of personal management, is a
relative newcomer, and probably (not at all certain) is more developed in man than in the
other higher animals. It grew from the ability to imagine, to create experiences in the sensor
memories. First, imagine a scene. Now, imagine that you are in charge, that you understand.
That you need to do something with it. Now imagine the solution. The power this factor
added to the intuitive process is incredible. Man, at least he thinks so, now had the power to
stand back and look at himself and the cosmos. Man now had the power to become
objective. Not that he ever wanted to, mind you, but it was now possible.
 6. Then, quite recently, modern man discovered intelligent thought, a rigid methodology
and a mostly painful process. Totally unsung, it came from the artisans (not the
philosophers), while seeking repeatable methods to build dependable products. It required
the learning and application of provable knowledge and a rejection of that which could not
be proven. The engineer was born, vilified by the intellectual from the beginning. The
intelligent thought process is not entertaining, like art, music, sports, literature and
philosophy, and it isn't easy or fun. It requires a measurable and provable basis, thereby
utterly destroying a lot of beautiful and imaginative thought. It requires a careful single
logical step at a time, a seemingly terrible waste of a soaring and creative mind. It requires
physical verification at every logic step, a terribly boring and rote procedure. And it takes a
terrible amount of knowledge preparation. But it produces real and measurable results. And
if something is really important, such as developing safe air flight, it is always used, indeed
it is demanded. The education of our children, long an intellectual toy, must someday join
the list of 'important' things that deserve the same treatment. The uncontrolled application
of imagination and conjecture to an intangible basis, such as now exists in our modern
social studies, is the direct inverse of intelligence and can only breed mischief.
All of these neural processes are interwoven in the human mind in various portions. They are used
simultaneously, and the divisions between them are invisible to us. We never really know which
element prevailed in our decision. If we are in our day-to-day mode, we operate entirely intuitively
(instinctively). If we want to lean back and look at things, we are in our 'awareness' (subjective)
mode. It is only when we set our conscious minds to it, and rigidly adhere to the process, that we
are 'intelligent'. Being 'intelligent' is not an 'easy' process, nor is it fun. It requires effort to learn and
rigid self-control to use. But, it is productive.

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Conclusions
Man is not, by nature (without special training), a logical (reasoning, intelligent) creature. He is,
instead, totally reactive (instinctive, intuitive). His behavior is determined entirely by the
interaction (conflict resolution, competition, cooperation, coordination) between his various
instincts (genetically determined neural mechanisms provided by evolution for behavioral
guidance). There is no mechanism for intelligence or memory which is separate from sensory,
motor and instinct mechanisms. Man may be trained (his behavior may be controlled by edict). He
may be educated (he may be taught knowledge for use as raw material in his decision making). The
untrained and uneducated human is totally instinctive and not capable of objective reasoning or
proper cultural behavior under modern social environments. The self-disciplined and educated (if
educated in real knowledge) human is fully capable of both. The human has been provided by
evolution with instincts (genetically specified neural mechanisms) which causes him to seek both
training and education (he is a competitive social animal). He is quite capable of logic, reason, and
intelligence when he chooses to be so, provided that he learns and follows the necessary discipline
and rigid methodology. Even then, however, he is instinctive in his goals (the need for and the
application of the reasoning). His instincts provide the direction, drive and power behind his every
action.
Man is, therefore, capable of being superior to any intelligent mechanism or creature, since he is
not limited to functioning only with logic, reason and intelligence, thus allowing unlimited mental
creativity and exploration. He has no mental limitation in scope, other than in his self-control over
his instincts. Conversely, he is also capable of being an absolute idiot, the more usual case since he
is not normally either trained or educated in intelligent thought (solid provable premises, careful
logic steps, frequent verification by measurement, the refusal to consider intuition, imagination and
conjecture in other than theoretical and inventive pursuits).
Unfortunately, man believes that he is naturally intelligent and that he acts intelligently at all times.
He does not recognize that all of his social interaction is instinct (intuition) driven. Nor does he
recognize that many of his instincts are archaic and only partially applicable. Nor does he recognize
that whereas logic and reason would always result in uniform behavioral action, the normal (due to
mutations) divergence in instincts across the gene pool of the human, will always produce
divergent answers for the same behavioral questions. Where his genetically provided behavioral
tendencies (instincts) fit the particular social problem, he functions well, but since he is unable to
sense the dividing line between his instinctive (intuition, reactive decision summation) and logical
reasoning, he usually substitutes intuition, imagination and conjecture for logic, reason, and
intelligence. Then he swears to its authenticity by virtue of his 'intelligence'. Mankind thus
constructs entire fields of study in social interaction (psychology, philosophy, sociology,
educational philosophy, political and social 'science', etc.) on false and self-serving premises and
follows with faulty logical development which is rarely if ever verified, and thereby rarely true.
Also, and just as unfortunate, human instincts date from times of great stress and so are primarily
aimed at surviving under that ancient environment. Having overcome most of this environmental
stress through the invention of shelter, clothing, food production and medicine, many of these
instincts have become detrimental. Others are time-consuming and without social value.

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The Neural System Before Man

Early life, some 3.5 billion years ago, consisted of single living cells. A single cell is a very
complex assembly of biological material engaged in complex chemical processes. Single cell life
developed, through the process of evolution, over a period of billions of years. See The Evolution
of the Cell for more detail on cell development. The evolution of man from the single cell is far less
a magnificent process than was the development of the cell itself. The development of man
required, once the cell was established and began forming cooperatives, about 680 million years.
The development of the cell itself required about 3 billion prior years.
The first multicellular animals began appearing about 680 million years ago. These were living
creatures composed of cooperating cells. All of the higher animals, including man, developed from
these. Note the process from the simple to the complex. Note the development, first of collecting
individual biological processes into a single cell, then the construction of creatures from multiple
uses of the cell. One by one the biological processes were assembled in the cell, then one by one
the characteristics of all modern life were built from multiple cells.
The human brain was developed through a similar process, from the simple to the complex, along
with the evolution of the human. The human body is composed of many billions of cells, working
in harmony. The modern human nervous system is composed of about 100 billion neural
functioning cells, supported by perhaps 10 times that many more.
As man evolved, mutations occurred in the nervous system, causing it to evolve along with the
body. Those mutations were tested against the environment in the same manner as mutations
involving outward physical changes. As ancient ancestors of man gained new and improved
sensors, in order to survive, the neural control of those sensory enhancements developed alongside.
As survival required more complex actions and reactions of the overall organism, those also
developed in the form of neural circuitry along with and often a part of the sensory enhancement
circuitry. See The Evolution of Man for more detail on man's development.
The first thing to realize about the brain is that, unlike an organ such as the heart or liver, it is not a
single organ with a single function. It is instead an organ of many thousands of interlocking
functions. These micro-functions developed along the same game plan as the body itself. If features
were not successful, they were discarded. As features were found to enhance survival, they became
permanent residents. The human body is a giant cooperative consisting of billions of cooperating
cells. The human nervous system, likewise, is constructed of many thousands of cooperating
functions. This is to be expected, since both were developed by the same process, and that
development would of necessity be of the same kind and within the same time frame.
The idea that suddenly something entirely new, a wonderful new intelligent mechanism, appeared
only in the lineage of man, has no basis. Other than in proportions of the various parts, the brains of
all of the higher animals are the same in construction.

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Exploration Methods
The function of the brain was not understood as recently as two hundred years ago. Many thought
at that time it was some sort of pump which helped the heart circulate the blood. Our current
understanding of the brain is based on the following study methods:
 Determination of the structure of the brain through dissection: This dissection extends to
microscopically thin slices. All of the elements of the brain structure have been isolated and
named. This is the oldest direct study method.
 Observation of the functioning brain: Using techniques such as Magnetic Resonance
Imaging, the brain may be observed while the subject performs various functions. This is
the most recent form of study. The active portion of the brain during any particular function
will require more blood and so shows up on the scan. While talking, for example, the
Broca's area on the left frontal lobe shows activity. While reading-aloud, the Broca's area
(speech function) and the occipital lobe in both hemispheres (seeing function) will show
activity. While moving the right foot, a particular area in the parietal area of the left
hemisphere will show activity. There is, at present, an ongoing concerted coordinated effort
among academics to map the functioning areas of the entire brain.
 Cataloging the functional effects of brain trauma: Brain damage from automobile accidents
and strokes is quite common. By carefully noting the effects of damage then performing
post-mortem examinations later, the relationship between regional damage and resulting
neural performance offers good physical correlation. This is probably the largest source of
correlative (function vs location) data available.
 As presented here, the study of genetics and evolution combined with the data from the
above studies offers great insight into the construction of the human neural system. For
example: The eyes developed slowly over time. The neural system which supports (1) eye
control and movement, (2) care (blinking), (3) scene storage (memory) and recall, (4) scene
analysis, (5) imaginative scene construction, and (6) functional judgment of scene elements,
all developed along with the eye. The neural systems for all of the other senses developed in
the same manner, as did those for all other functioning parts such as legs, arms, etc. The
brain is then the accumulation of all of these systems into one coordinated whole.
 Comparative behavioral studies of modern man, primitive man, and other higher organisms
can supply supporting data and guidance, if carefully used only for that purpose and
maintained free of ideological and political tampering. Current studies are far more
'politically correct' than 'scientific'.
 Introspection is the most questionable of all thought processes, but is the prevalent modern
opinion source about the functioning of the mind. This is the way of the philosopher,
psychologist, educator and sociologist. The mind is turned inward to inspect the mind,
leading to such utterly stupid statements as : "Ebonics is a valid language", "Whole
language is superior to phonetics for the teaching of reading.", "It is logically obvious that if
a child receives low grades, he will not be able to learn due to his loss of self-esteem." or
"Any fool can see that the reason for teen-age births is the low self-esteem of the young
 mother." Unfortunately, such intuitive (for some) observations form the basis for all modern
education and, therefore, the social direction of man. Worse still, that education then forms
the culture of the next generation, leading inevitably to a spiral downward of ever
increasingly foolish 'knowledge' being taught to the ever increasingly receptive.

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An Introduction to the Brain

The size of the modern human adult brain is about 1350 cc. It is a spongy mass (and not very
pleasing in appearance). The brain of Ramidus, the walking ape/man of 4.5 million years ago, was
about 400 cc. in size, that of Homo habilis, the first human at about 2 million years ago , was about
575 cc. The largest human brain was in the Neandertal at about 8% larger than the Homo sapien
sapien.

The left side of a human brain is shown. The brain stem is a communications trunk between the
brain and the rest of the body. Two of the five senses which provide current environment
information from the outside world (eyes and ears) are connected directly to the periphery of the
brain. Taste, smell and touch come from outside the brain cage (the upper skull). Each element of
each sense has a direct connection to the brain. Each small area on the body has its own touch
sensor. Taste provides about 40,000 individual sensors, the eyes well over two hundred million.
The senses are connected into the brain in parallel. All sensing elements enter the brain at the same
time. There is no time sharing or switching. The eyes are connected in one area, the ears to another,
etc.
The brain consists of many parts, the most conspicuous division being the two hemispheres, which
forms the cortex (outer surface). The cortex is folded to get more surface area. It functions as if it
was a flattened surface. It is at the surface that the cortex brain cell bodies are especially situated,
while the internal parts of the cortex carry the connections between the cells. The division of brain
cell bodies and their connections causes the cortex to be either white matter (connections) or gray
matter (active neural cells on the outer surface). See the latter part of Man, the Digital Machine for
more detail on the neural cell mechanism and its functions.
The brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left one is shown. The hemispheres can be divided
into lobes, corresponding roughly with deep fissures: temporal (side), occipital (back), parietal
(top), and frontal.
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A Case of Cooperation
Usually it is best to approach a complex problem by way of simple detail first, then the
combinations leading to the complex. The end result of that approach in the study of the brain is so
bizarre with respect to the way we appear to ourselves, that it becomes confusing. If one should be
unsuspecting, much is lost in the explanation of the detail.
The cause of this unusual situation is the manner in which the brain developed. It was not built at
one time, nor as a single object. It is not an entity that one can explain as an entity. Neural decision
mechanisms in mobile complex organisms have been around more than 680 million years. The
human developed from one of those early creatures. Early neural mechanisms were quite simple.
Evolution, over time and with much trial and error experimentation, increased the number of neural
components while constantly increasing the complexity of each. The end result, the human brain, is
a cooperative of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of 'mini-brains'. The cooperative is so much in tune
that it appears and functions as one.
The human brain, then, is a cooperative composed of perhaps thousands of individual reactive
decision mechanisms, each with its own memory, interconnection with all others, and judgement.
The voting of these mechanisms is so fast and so in harmony that we perceive the entire system as
being the thought of one mechanism, which, in effect, the overall system becomes.
As we use our minds, it is obvious to us that we are one. There is no hint that we are actually many,
in fact a great many, and that our consciousness (awareness) is the summation (vote) of these
entities in the closest possible cooperation. To gain this concept of more than one contributing to
our single consciousness, consider the partitioning of the brain into hemispheres.
Figure 2:

Three views of the brain are shown in figure 2. As can be seen, most of the brain is split into two
hemispheres, the left and right, by a deep fissure. In general, the left half of the brain is associated
with things on the right side of the body and the right half is associated with things on the left side
of the body. This inversion idea also extends to sight, where the image processing area on the
surface of the occipital lobes is both inverted and reversed.
Between these two halves and hidden from view, there is a massive communication link, the
corpus callosum, which connects the two, allowing information to pass between. Under normal
conditions, anything known by one side is also known by the other, and as quickly. Our self, then,
is composed of two thinking mechanisms, so totally interconnected that it appears to us to be one.
Indeed, it functions as one.
Certain forms of epilepsy do not respond to drug therapy and surgery becomes necessary. One of
the surgical procedures consists of severing a large portion of the corpus callosum, thereby almost
completely isolating one half of the brain from the other. There is an optimum ratio severed. Too
much will unduly harm the function of the patient, whereas, too little will not sufficiently diminish
the rate and severity of seizures.
Whereas formerly each side of the brain was kept informed of the happenings to the other by way
of the corpus callosum, they are now partially isolated. Bizarre effects result. Things seen only with
the left eye (right hemisphere) become difficult, if not impossible, to verbalize (the left hemisphere
contains the speaking vocabulary). Things seen with only the right eye are not recognized when
viewed again with only the left. It is now possible for one half of the brain to have experiences and
learn things that will never be known by the other.
Adjustments are made quickly. The patient begins to talk a lot. It is a way of overcoming the
communication difficulty introduced by the surgery. When the right eye sees anything, the left side
of the brain will verbalize it (speech center is on left side of the brain). The left ear picks up the
verbal symbols (phonemes), then the right side of the brain knows how to verbalize it also. A new
vocal and external communication link is established between the two sides that partially offsets the
internal one that has been partially disabled.
The point is that these two sides of the brain are now separate entities with respect to conscious
thought. They still have common control of the bodily functions and they still think they are one
being, but external communication between the two is now necessary for cooperation.
Before the corpus callosum was severed, the two sides of the brain functioned as an entity.
Behavioral decisions were in perfect and immediate harmony, so harmonious in fact that the
division between the two is intellectually and consciously invisible.
Keep this in mind, as we turn toward studying the entire nervous system. The idea of separate
entities cooperating so closely that they function as one is a common theme, repeated many times,
throughout the brain.
The evolution of the human body was incredible in its complexity. As we study the process we are
continually amazed at the intricacy of its action and the beauty of its final product. As astounding
as that process was and its product is, both are as nothing compared to the evolution of the human
neural system and its product. The awesome complexity and exquisite beauty of the human neural
system is staggering.

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The Development of the Nervous System

Fig. 3

Figure 3 shows a primitive nervous system. This system has been around more than a half-billion
years and is still used by many primitive creatures. This is a reactive system, as are all nervous
systems. The sensor sees a condition, such as heat, light or touch, and passes that information
directly to a fixed process which converts this real time information directly into a motor control
command. There are single-cell animals, for example, which live by eating others. They move
aimlessly around until they feel that they have bumped into something and then start chomping
away on whatever is next to them. There are others that rely on light to power their photo-synthesis
energy system. These will sense which direction has the most light and then swim toward it.
This decision module is fixed. It does not learn, it only reacts to the current environment as
reported by the sensor. It is not intelligent. It is, instead, merely reactive. In electronic engineering
terms it is a state machine. With a given set of input information, it produces a certain fixed
response. The decision mechanism is not an intellectual device which manipulates data while
judging its end effect, it is a fixed circuit which sums the input data (some of which may be a
summation done separately elsewhere) and delivers a particular action command for each set of
input data. Evolution always builds on existing material. This miniature nervous system set the
pattern for all mobile life, billions of years ago. As life became more complex, more terms (things
to be considered in decision making) were added to this decision matrix. An advanced modern form
of mobile life may have a decision matrix composed of thousands of lessor decision mechanisms,
each with hundreds or perhaps thousands of other terms needed for the decision. As new devices
were added (arms, legs, etc.) and new sensors were added (eyes, ears, nose, etc.) new terms were
added into the decision mechanism. The decision matrix is not a device which is located in one
place. It is diffused throughout the brain with major portions located close to major complex
functions.
Note! This form for the behavior controlling device is surmised from observation and study of the
evolution process. We do not know how the brain works as yet. We do know however:
 (1) Evolution does no planning. (2) Its mutations (changes) are random, in general. (3) The
mutations occur on existing material. (4) Evolution does not develop functions not currently
needed. (5) The environment selects (allows to live) mutations which are helpful for
survival. These five statements together strongly imply the gradual development of a
decision system and as strongly denies the possibility of the sudden invention of a super
thinking machine which the organism later advances into using.
 The primitive nervous system works as we have described. Starting with the lowest order of
mobile animals and observing the change in nervous systems from those to the most
advanced (including man) there are only gradual changes in system complexity. It is
reasonable to assume that evolution works the same in all species. Therefore man is an
extension of the same process.
 As nervous systems became more complex through evolution, the new functions were
added to the old, so there is no reason to believe that the methodology changed, nor is there
evidence of any different kind of structure.
 In examining brain trauma (strokes and accidents), mainly through autopsy after the
patient's debilitation had been chronicled, the existence of specialized portions of the brain
can be demonstrated, and has been known for a long time.
 Physical measurement basis for these assumptions may be observed by various forms of
magnetic resonance imaging. See Magnetic Imaging Techniques.

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Obtaining Information About the Environment

Fig. 4
As the sensors became more complex (capable) the signals they generated also became much more
complex, becoming increasingly more difficult to feed into a decision matrix directly. Evolution is
a reactive process, it does not plan ahead nor does it build in excess of requirements. Rather than
build a huge decision mechanism in order to handle unnecessary detail and allow for future needs,
it, in its trial and error method of development, was forced to adjust the amount of the detail (data
compression) before entering the decision mechanism. It became necessary to preprocess this
sensor data into a more compact symbolic form. Consider the human eye for example. Although it,
along with its preprocessor, is an integrating device (summation, data compression), it produces
similarly to a sampling device (such as a TV camera) operating at about twenty frames per second.
With about 110 million sensor elements per eye and a color definition equivalent to at least 8 bits
per primary color, a data flow into the decision matrix equivalent to 2,000 megabytes per second
would be an overwhelming load to provide for using slow biological circuitry (would require a 200
mhz. Pentium for eye processing alone). Add millions of other inputs from taste, hearing and touch
and the decision matrix would become monstrously large and also monstrously slow. Only a small
percentage of that information from the eye is needed for proper decision making, and the smaller
the decision matrix the faster its throughput. Data compression is a part of the data preprocessing
from each of the sensor sets. The resultant compressed symbol representing current sensor status is
particularly customized, through fixed processing, for the needs of the host. For example, the scene
processed through a cat's eye, though the eye is similar to the human in capability and construction,
would be preprocessed into an entirely different judgment symbol with different accents tailored to
the needs of the cat. Of necessity, this compression (scene analysis) must also make allowances for
urgency at the time, more detail being needed in times of danger, for example.
Sensor preprocessing is performed in certain specified areas of the gray matter of the brain. These
areas are trainable memory, genetically set aside for the specific purpose. They are genetically
organized and assigned circuitry, not useful for anything else and not replaceable through retraining
elsewhere if damaged. The preprocessing (data compression, symbol generation, data integration,
data analysis, sensor judgment) for the human eye takes place in the occipital lobe of each
hemisphere (see figure 1). The occipital lobes are well developed in all mammals. Although
primary areas for various preprocessors are relatively fixed in location in the brain between
individuals, there is variation both in location and size. Also, the total area used for preprocessing
for certain senses are not localized. In scanning the human brain for metabolic activity while
performing various functions, it appears that some preprocessing is scattered, indicating that the
evolutionary development process for the function was not uniform but occurred in sporadic time
episodes. The mutation which produced the improvement in a given preprocessing function did not
happen at an aesthetically pleasing location, but once established was the likely loci for future
beneficial mutations.
The sensor and its preprocessor are integrated, providing a given function. The capability of the
integrated function effects behavior. The limitations of that capability are input terms for
consideration in the decision matrix. The sensors may in turn be controlled as a part of the output of
the decision matrix. Turning the eyes toward a danger and concentrating mental attention there
would be an example.
The preliminary training for these preprocessor areas takes place during the early development of
the individual. For example, the focusing and movement of the eyes along with sight correlation
usually takes at least a year. The coordination of the eye with body movement takes much longer.
Although this is training, it is mechanical training and has little to do with intellect. Further
physical training and adjustment occurs throughout life.

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Providing Function
Fig. 5

Figure 5 shows the addition of a motor controller between the decision matrix and the motor to be
controlled. As the organism became more complex, the output of the decision matrix was required
to drive ever more complex devices and to coordinate those devices. If the complexity of the drive
signals was required of the decision matrix, it would need be enormously wide, complex and slow.
The human voice alone, for example, requires many thousands of simultaneous signals in the
formation of phonemes. A simple command to say, "ah" is enormously complex with tongue and
mouth position, breath control, etc. Similarly, the movement and focusing of the eyes would require
many thousands of instructions. These are provided by an eye controller mechanism rather than
directly from the decision matrix.
Here again, trial and error adopted the controller option, a post-processor device, by building a
device which performs the detail translation from decision to performance. The phoneme processor
is an excellent example. It is located primarily in man on the lower portion of the left frontal lobe,
whereas in woman it is located in roughly equal parts on each side of the brain in the same location
on both frontal lobes. Other small patches of the brain show that they are also a part of this same
mechanism. When the decision mechanism makes the decision to say, "ah", the phoneme processor
translates that phoneme demand into the multitude of muscular controls needed to accomplish that
task. This controller is trained as the child learns to talk. The basic speech elements may be
obtained in less than two years. Vocabulary additions and pronunciation corrections may be made
throughout the life of the individual.
Each motor device (leg, arm, finger, eye, tongue, etc.) has a trainable controller for the expansion
and translation of the command to that device , an area of gray matter set aside and specifically
designed for that function.
It has been shown that the act of seeing provides a scaled version of the scene along the gray matter
surface of the occipital lobe. If a subject is given a map to study then asked to trace the route from a
given location on the map to another both with the eyes and from memory, it takes the same
amount of time either way. If a portion of the visual area in the occipital lobe is damaged, it can be
shown that that the seeing is damaged in an exact reflected way, even though the eyes were not
damaged.
An important finding with respect to the eyes is that if a perception area is damaged (in the surface
layer of the occipital lobes), not only is the visual perception damaged, but any scene memory will
show defects in that same area. This indicates that sensory memory is a part of the sensory
perception mechanism. All of our memory scenes are stored in that same layer. It is an easy step,
then, to the generalization that all sensory memory is stored in the sensory perception area for that
sensor. A memory recalled which is complete with sight, touch, sound and smell is an assembly
from the various sensory memories.
A final important finding: if a visual perception area in the occipital lobe is damaged, the subject
not only loses the ability to see in the damaged portion, and is not able to recall any historical scene
detail in that same area but from before the damage, the subject is also unable to 'imagine'
(construct a mental scene) in that damaged area. This gives insight into the human creative process.
The human 'builds' a scene in the sensory areas as he invents.

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Direction and Drive: the Conflict of Life

A very large percentage of the brain, perhaps more than 90%, is required for body maintenance
(heart, respiration, etc.), information gathering (sensors and data preprocessing), memory, and
motor control (legs, arms, etc. post-processing and command translation). These together describe
the physical abilities and limitations of the individual. The senses determine the amount and quality
of current environmental information. The physical construction and mobility of the body
determines the behavioral capability and capacity of the individual.
But man's behavior goes much deeper. It is the balance of the brain which provides much of what
becomes behavior.
The simple organism shown in figure 3 did not need an impetus to do what it should do and its
guiding mechanism did not provide decision conflict, the basic element of 'intelligence' in animals.
In this simple animal, the sensor gave not only information but also supplied it in such a way that it
provided the command signal required to satisfy the error in that information. Implicit in the
sensor's data was the command to do a specific thing about it. These are referred to as reflex
actions, actions taken in direct and immediate response to a given sensor input. The blink of the eye
to prevent injury to it when something moves toward it is an example. The jerk of the hand away
from something hot is another.
As organisms, and their perceived environment, became more complex, animals developed a
repertoire of actions. The decision on which to do became necessary before the command could be
issued on what to do. There were conflicts in the environment and often there were choices which
needed to be made. As multiple requirements grew, the central decision matrix gained terms to be
considered.
The first drives (instincts) developed in genetically specified form were the ones that concerned
body functions. Safety, food, sex, and care of young are some of the focal points, all under the
general heading survival. Decision conflict was the method which developed as the result of
evolution.
The decision conflict between safety and food was probably the first developed. Before this
decision conflict developed, the animal always sought food. As predators developed around them,
those whose only function was finding food continually blundered into disaster. The idea of
survival or safety had not been developed. The first animal which moved around as it sought food
but changed directions rapidly when a moving shadow appeared, tended to survive better than those
that doggedly stayed on path regardless of movement around them.
Whereas before, the signals from the senses were translated directly into commands for motion and
eating, now this translation depends to a certain degree on a new factor. We call that factor fear.
The emphasis is hunger, the conflict is fear. As long as the hunger is greater than the fear, the
animal forages. When the fear emotion exceeds his hunger, the animal will flee. The animal is no
longer ever completely comfortable, since it lives in a constant decision conflict between hunger
and fear. Under a comfortable environment, the fear is small and the appetites may be attended to.
Under a stressful environment, the two are balanced, and the animal is extremely uncomfortable,
barely able to decide whether he wishes to eat, or to be eaten. This, historically, has been the
position of man, constant fear and constant hunger, each ebbing and flowing with the experiences
of the day. (Investors on the stock market play the same game today.) The modern attitude of
mental conflict avoidance, espoused by modern psychologists and philosophers, is a perversion.
TGIF is a death mantra. Man needs that inner conflict, it is the essence of his life. His value, then,
lies in his unique solution. Without conflict, what difference does a solution make? Who cares?
The forage/danger conflict along with the fear function which regulates the balance between those
factors is one we see often. Feed a wild animal or bird in your back yard and you will enslave him.
Your backyard becomes a foraging location of relative safety and some constancy, neither of which
exists elsewhere in his habitat. The forage/danger ratio becomes quite desirable in his decision
matrix and the animal will strive to enjoy it. Feed the animal a constant amount regularly, and the
crowd will increase as others gather for a handout. As the crowd grows, the food for each shrinks.
The crowd will continue to grow even when the amount of food available for each approaches a
starvation diet. Soon, it's a battle royal between competing animals. A similar process exists in
human welfare systems. All welfare systems, regardless of the species involved, will tend to grow
without limit. It is natural that they do and the growth should be expected.
Evolution then favored three kinds of changes to the animal:
 Instincts which provide for problem avoidance: If the animal became more adept at
identifying his danger so that he more often fled when he should and less often fled when
there was no need, he had more time to find food and tended to survive better. This was
gained by developing a fixed mental sensory image which more closely resembled the
danger, so that sensory input could be compared and the decision could more easily be
made between danger and no danger. The actual sensory image, in this case, was compared
with the genetically fixed (instinctive) memory pattern. The amplitude of the output signal
(fear) was in direct proportion to the degree which the two matched.
 Instincts which favored problem solving: If the animal became more adept at identifying his
food, he became more efficient in his foraging and made better use of the time he was not
fleeing from danger; therefore he tended to survive better. The food image was developed in
the same manner as the danger image above: an image in fixed memory (actually composed
of many images related to the senses) to which the sensory image could be compared.
 Instincts which caused the organism to be more dynamic: If the decision matrix became
more sophisticated so that the flee or eat decision was brought into sharper focus, the animal
wasted less time in fleeing without diminishing his safety from being eaten and thereby
became more efficient in the use of his time. This was done in part by developing a
hysteresis in the decision mechanism which diminished the fear, even though danger was
allowed to be recognized as being present, until the danger reached a certain threshold. Thus
bravery was born, the instinct which allows function in the face of danger.
Once these three trends (natural occurrences of behavior modifying instincts under the selection
process) became established, all of the modern higher animals, including the human, became
probable. These three instincts become more adept with time, and many new instincts grew from
these. Where are these various instincts located? Most sensory and motor signal processors contain
that portion of the instinct which effects them in the analysis of their requirements. It is believed
that the central portions of the instinct set reside in the frontal lobes.
Chance mutations when life was young developed the sexual animal. The prior cell division
method of reproduction had resulted in great stability in the various forms of life. The sexual
animal provided more variations, to try out against the environment, than the asexual reproduction
could provide. Most variations were worse and quickly died out but some were improvements and
these tended to survive by crowding out the asexual animal. In the beginning, sex was for the
purpose of reproduction. Early animals had no notion of reproduction. Sexual drive was provided
genetically (another instinct). Those who engaged in a lot of sex had a lot of offspring and therefore
tended to thrive as a species. The others tended to disappear as a species. The selection process
favored a strong sexual lust, in most species. It became so strong in many species that it
transcended food and even danger. Increased sexual drive tends to be intensified by the process of
evolution, to a point. If it becomes too strong, it creates problems which in turn may be so serious
that the continuation of the lineage is harmed. In that case, the evolutionary process will tend to
eliminate those species with lusts which are too strong. Lust becomes another factor in the decision
matrix.
If a species has so many offspring that sheer numbers provide the species continuation, then the
parent is quite casual toward them. Plants follow this path, with some plants providing millions of
seeds each year with the hopes that in their lifetime at least one of those will live to bear seeds also.
Rabbits are known for this approach. Male mammal sperm also follow the route that success
depends on large numbers. Other animals, such as the human, dolphin and elephant, bear only a
few young which require lengthy care to become adult and have their own offspring. These
offspring require lengthy personal care, in turn requiring a great attachment between parent and
young. Those parents who do not have this attachment, do poorly in raising their offspring and their
genetic lineage tends to die out. Those who have great attachment are more successful in raising
their young and their lineage tends to prosper. Thus parental love became an instinctive driving
force in the decision matrix and now competes (conflicts) with all selfish instincts. Since this
instinct was developed during tribal conditions where the intermingling of cooperating families was
necessary, parental love in the human extends to all children, and in fact, somewhat extends to the
young of other species. Almost everyone loves a puppy.
What is the extent of the development of neural behavior mechanisms (how many instincts are
there?) in the brain? It is not that simple. Take the one we call parental love for example. It, like all
instincts, invokes an emotion when triggered. Usually it is triggered by a sensory input: we see a
child, we smell the characteristic odor of a baby, we feel the softness of their skin, we hear it gurgle
in baby laughter. These sensory experiences are decoded in the various sensory control areas. There
is no central location for the instinct, it is distributed but inter-linked. And the instinct itself is not
discrete. We categorize instincts, as we do almost everything whether the process fits or not, as a
means of segmenting knowledge for ease in communication and understanding. Segmenting
instincts in the human mind is an intellectual aid but does not reflect physical condition. The
instinct of compassion, for example, is an instinct developed under tribal conditions for the purpose
of sharing tribal goods (which enhanced the ability of the tribe to survive). Its roots are in parental
love (care for the helpless child). So where does one leave off and the other begin? Instinctive man
is a skull full of lumpy instinctive stew.
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EDUCATING AND TRAINING THE HUMAN

There is a physical change in gray matter with use. Cells in the outer thin area of the cortex which
are extensively used during a given action show visible change under the microscope.
A classic experiment involved a large group of mice. They were first divided into two groups of
equal size. Both groups were placed in identical containers and given identical food and water. One
container was bare. The other contained many toys and innovative runs. After a period of time, half
of each group was sacrificed and their brains examined. There was a decided difference in the
appearance of the brains. Cells in the 'busy' group appeared much more robust. The containers were
then swapped and the remainder of the mice returned. After the same period of time as the first part
of the experiment, the balance of the mice in each group was sacrificed and their brains examined.
It was found in each case that the appearance of the brains had shifted back. The brains from the
formerly sedentary mice had become more robust with the new stimulation and the formerly robust
brains had shifted to the appearance of those from the sedentary container in the first half of the
experiment. (This should tell you something about how we should handle criminal prisoners.)
The Broca's area is a neural mechanism which provides the function of motor processor for the
human voice mechanism. It receives a word in the form of a string of phonemes as input, then
provides the multitude of exquisitely timed and controlled commands to chest, tongue and throat
muscles to properly form the word. Applying the knowledge gained from the mouse experiment,
one would expect that there would be physical difference between the Broca's area of the average
person and that of an opera singer. Such is the case. There is a marked difference.
Evolution is inventive in the sense that it is chaos squeezed through a filter. Mutations are accidents
and are, therefore, bereft of reason. The environment is what it is, and no more. It has no planning,
and, also, no reason. But, when the mutations apply to the environment for survival, most are found
wanting, and they perish. The end result of the entire process appears to be inventive. (The fact is
this is the way man invents things, too. He idiotically runs through a bunch of impossibles before
finding the invention he was looking for.) Once evolution finds a solution, a mechanism which is
successful in surviving, it does not strike off looking for a new way to do things. It always works
from (happens to) that which already exists. If by chance it should find a better method, the
creature incorporating the new and superior idea crowds out the old. It's a competitive world. So
rest assured, if one way solves a problem in the body, you will not find another way to do the same
thing anywhere in the body. The same process will be used wherever needed.
If the Broca's area responds to activity, in the same manner as the brains of the mice, then all other
neural mechanisms which perform the same kind of function (a set of signals in, processed to a new
set of signals out) will respond in a like manner. Observation of other motor areas bear this theory
out.
If the Broca's area gets damaged, you are through talking. No other brain area can be trained to take
its place. In the same manner, no matter the activity (education, practice or training), the Broca's
area can't be trained to do a different function.
An instinct is a neural mechanism. It is not a reasoning mechanism. It receives a set of signals and
produces another set of signals. It can be exercised. It can be strengthened. If made inactive through
inattention, it will atrophy to a low level influence. It can't be trained into a new function. If the
instinct is one that fits the culture, it can be strengthened through attention and use. An instinct
which is deleterious can be over-ridden by conscious control (unless defective, the human is quite
trainable). Education on the facts of man and his fit in the universe will in most cases supply the
information for proper control of the instincts (and consequent acceptable behavior).
Racial bigotry is an instinct formed during the two million years that man developed from habilis to
sapien as a tribal warrior and hunter. Tribal militancy was the necessary norm. Modern educators
waste time trying to educate it into something else, an impossibility. The most they can do is make
the child lie and feel inferior because he 'thinks wrong'. It is possible that the instinct is
strengthened every time the attempt is made to educate it. Forget educating the instinct and train the
child's behavior. Tell him it may be understandable but any form of racially bigoted behavior is
forbidden. With proper behavior the instinct will wither.
It is clear from this description, that man learns best (whether in knowledge, motor skill or instinct
control) through repetition. In fact, practice (repetition) is the only way that it can 'learn'. Ask any
basketball player, pianist or mathematician. The neural mechanisms in each instance, though
specialized, operate on the same principle. Only the modern educator scoffs.
Conclusion: Our current public education system is precisely
backwards in intent, content and method.
Nature is inexorable. The process of evolution produces life forms which can survive within the
fixed constraints of nature. Some life forms, such as plants, adapt themselves to fit the requirements
of nature. Others adapt nature to fit themselves to a certain extent. The most successful of the latter
has been man. Man has been developed to be the greatest problem solver yet produced by
evolution.
The construction of man's neural system shows his nature specifically. It is composed of thousands
of individual neural functions, each of which has one goal in mind: the solution of a particular set
of survival problems or portion thereof. Man is a problem solver, pure and simple. As long as the
problems were outside of man, he conquered them all, one by one. These problems lend themselves
to objective attack. A constant and reliable food supply became available through agriculture and
animal husbandry. Fire for warmth and cooking was developed. Shelter was constructed from
available materials. Medicine was developed. Tools that make tasks easier were invented.
Man is a successful problem solver. He has overpopulated the world and dominates all other life.
He is successful to the point of negating the cleansing portion of his own evolution. See The
Degeneration of Man He is faced with species extinction if he does not solve this problem.
All of man's remaining problems are those he has generated himself. These are problems which he
is not equipped naturally to solve. Man does well in objective pursuits. He can build a better rabbit
snare, and a rocket to fly to the moon. But, in spite of the fact that he believes he is brilliantly
intelligent in all things, he is dumb as a rock when it comes to subjective problems. He is not
equipped. Those problems did not exist when man evolved and evolution now supplies problems,
not solutions. His conflict summation matrix (intuition), all thousands of elements, were designed
for an entirely different set of problems. Man's philosophy and psychology, as they are defined
today, are no more and can be no more than pure drivel.
Since man's nature is that of solving problems, and he has solved the ones provided by nature, those
for which he was designed to solve, it is natural that he tend to take the easy way. Relax. Indulge in
food and drink. Let somebody else do it. And then there are the three ultimate cop-outs - suicide,
drug dependency and socialism. All three give away man's freedom and vitality in return for
producing nothing. Man is born to be challenged. Take conflict (competition) away from man and
those attributes which make him human will atrophy.
As a superb problem solver of outside things which effect him, man removed the problems. That
removal may have been his death call. In turning his 'intelligence' from the solving of objective
problems, he has generated fatal subjective problems. He has two solutions from which to choose,
if he wishes to survive:
 1. Return to the law of the jungle and recreate the life of the last two million years, with all
its death and misery. This means forsaking a rich standard of living, abandoning medicine,
rejecting a compassionate culture and requiring a reduction in population to a small
percentage of that now. The natural forces of evolution would then cleanse his gene pool
and keep it lean. Man, as a species, would survive indefinitely, or
 2. Develop and enforce rigid and objective social thinking, translate man's problems into
objective goals, then treat himself as his own worst enemy, always skeptical of all that he
does. This solution does not mean forsaking a rich standard of living or a compassionate
society.
Man's social thought must be restructured. His cultural structure must be rebuilt. He needs
to scrap his non-science education system and enlarge his scientific studies, with all of its
rigor, to cover subjective man himself. Educational psychology, for instance, should be an
engineering field, with all of the skepticism, rigor and methodology that shift implies. Allow
traditional teaching techniques to remain until enough is known. Force the proving of new
teaching methods before applying them. Above all, do not allow academics to reshape the
culture.
.

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REFERENCES
The Whole Brain Atlas - Harvard
Tel-Aviv University
Washington University
Evolution (Biosciences) This WWW Virtual Library page offers links to genetics and the theory of
evolution.
Human Behavior and Evolution Society Title Page
MendelWeb
Basic Neural Processes Tutorials and Basic Neural Processes Tutorials II
John Krantz at Hanover College has provided students with tutorials on neural functioning and the
action potential, an excellent introduction to information processing in the nervous system. He has
even provided a quiz: Neuron Structure Quiz.
A variety of methods, such as Xray, CAT, MRI, and PET, for imaging the body and the brain are
now available. Many of these can be explored through the WWW. A fabulous listing of relevant
sites is available at the Centre of Medical Imaging Research, University of Leeds
Many Other Interesting Links
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URL: http://www.onelife.com/evolve/brain.html