We are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that think
In his book Descartes Error the renowned neuroscientists Antonio Damasio makes the argument that humans do not make decisions by relying solely on the purely rational cognitive, or reason-oriented, parts of their brain. He points to research using MRI scans of real-time functioning that reveals there is an interplay of the emotional which is centered in the limbic system, primarily the amygdala and the more evolved area of contemplation and pre-frontal cortex.
Damasio is not alone in this claim that we are feeling machines that sometimes think. Dan Ariely, an economist at M.I.T in his book Predictably Irrational points out that we not only are more emotional than we are rational we hold on to the following three myths:
- We know all the pertinent information about our decisions.
- We can calculate the value of the different options we face.
- We are, for important decisions, rational.
The following Ariely TED Talk is a wonderful summary of this book and these ideas
Are we in control of our decisions?
References
Damasio, A. R. (2006). Descartes’ error. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
