Little do the people comprehend the great–that is, the creating. But they have a mind for all showmen and actors of great things. —Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche Two ants were in mortal combat over disputed territory. As I watched, it seemed that this battle meant the world to them. But from my perspective, the […]
Category: Reptilian Mind
Background When I was about 9 years old growing up in Oklahoma in the 1950s, I remember stating my opinion to a grown-up man. It started out with “I think…” about some forgotten topic. However, I do remember his response: “Do you think or do you know?” Well, I doubt if I really knew what I was talking about, but […]
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Silent Behaviors
The Differences among Automaticity, Solemn Rituals, Spiritual Rituals, and Awe Recent posts have described incidents of unusually silent behaviors of people: Sacred Spaciousness in a Physically Tiny Montreal Restaurant suggested that a Human mentality was dominant in the vignette presented, while Automaticity: Humans Behaving Like Machines described examples of speechlessness when a reptilian mind was dominant. In this post […]
(Including Driving, Meals, Sex, and Work) automaton n.1. a machine that simulates human functions (e.g., a mechanized installation device on a conveyor belt) via preprogramed coded instructions. 2. a human acting in an autonomous and routine manner, seemingly without an external driving force. APA Dictionary of Psychology. automaticity n. the quality of a behavior or mental process that can be carried […]
The Reptilian Mind For the infant, disruption of its biological homeostatic balance needed to sustain life is “felt” at a physiological level as life-threatening, which it is. Similarly, for the infantile reptilian-minded “adult,” anything experienced as a threat to the status quo can also be “felt” as life-threatening, as much as asphyxiation would be for […]
(A Human-Minded Practice) Becoming more Human-minded is ultimately a process of becoming more aware and mindful of our behaviors and how we can change them so that our choices positively impact the world around us instead of intentionally or unintentionally harming it. Similar to eating and procreating, consumption is a “survival” activity that is often […]
(A Comparison of Two Religious Politicians, Josh Hawley and John Lewis, in Light of the Quadrune Mind Model) Josh Hawley and John Lewis each has lived his life in service to what he believed was right. But does that mean they have both lived spiritual lives? For the quadrune mind, it’s the level of consciousness, […]
The New York Times recently ran an article with the following in bold type: “Modern life is ugly, brutal and barren. Maybe you should try a Latin Mass.” This line caught my eye because the quadrune mind model has a lot to say about exactly why people would turn to Catholicism or Orthodoxy or other religions based in ritual […]
(Or at Least Less Reptilian) Some of my strongest memories of daily life are from when I lived in a new place. Everything was different. Everything required my attention. Buying groceries, doing laundry, going shopping—none of it could be done by routine. I couldn’t go about my business mindlessly, as I didn’t yet know what my business was. As a result, I had to be aware of my various activities. […]
The quadrune mind model has little value if we cannot use it to describe what we see in the real world. To that end, we believe that we can use what the model tells us about reptilian minded individuals—those who live life from an infantile mindset focused on instinctual, behavioral survival—to better understand the behaviors […]