The Cerebral Cortex: The Programmable Organ

In the first blog in this series, we set forth the idea that the human cerebral cortex has so drastically modified the physical environment and so completely dominates the context in which the human animal now operates that it could best be understood as a component of the environment (rather than just as part of the brain).

Using appetite as an example, we showed that the cortically-transmogrified inner—mental—environment differs significantly from the environment that had existed before the cortex reached its present level of control and influence. As a result, we argued, neither our organs, nor our physiology, nor our genetic tendencies can be counted on to function the same way they did before they came under this intense scrutiny.

What gave the cortex this level of power? Culture, of course. Unlike the rest of the brain, the cortex is largely programmable. It is programmed by cultures--mostly by whatever culture happens along or is ascendant at the time. Some of these programs are tolerant and sensitive to the needs of the rest of the organism. Others are punitive and rigid. Among current programs, some are sensitive to the needs of the environment, while others are clearly more responsive to economic factors.

The fact that the cortex is programmable is one of those things that everyone knows, but under different names. Take a look, for example, at the title of a recent book: Redesign Your Mind: The Breakthrough Program For Real Cognitive Change (Eric Maisel, 2021). On the book’s website is this quote: “Your mind is yours to redesign, redecorate and create!” Maisel must mean “redesign your cortex,” not, for example, your hypothalamus or your brain-stem.

The other parts of the brain are not programmable. They were formed by evolution, and they were adapted to specific environments. They have stood the test of long stretches of time. They embody much of the organism’s “wisdom,” such as how to digest efficiently, how to repel viral invaders, how to maintain a constant inner temperature, etc. etc. The cortex, in contrast, can create—in a flash—an altered environment, leaving the other organs, processes, and tendencies to cope with complex, unfamiliar situations. Hence history’s long sad catalog of unintended consequences.

Each cortical program creates a different environment for all the other components of the brain, as well as for the physiological processes and genetic tendencies that were created by evolution. Take reciprocal altruism, for example. As evolutionary biologists such as Robert Trivers and William D. Hamilton have shown, reciprocal altruism is a characteristic of the human species, an innate tendency. It more or less regulated human socio-economic behavior in the hunter-gatherer period. It’s the origin of our innate sense of fairness and our tendency to help others in need. But it does not regulate socio-economic behavior in a money economy, where the sense of fairness often collides with self-interest. For individuals, this conflict is the origin of much confusion, guilt and emotional distress. For societies, the conflict often creates a similar political line of demarcation, with one side espousing fairness and the other side promoting self-interest and individual freedom.

What is worse, the cortex has an unfortunate tendency to reject essential aspects of the self. Have you ever said to yourself “I hate myself”? or “I wish I was someone else”? How about this refrain, which is like a permanent implant for some people: “I could have done more.” Or “I could have done it better.”

One gentleman revealed to one of us that he heard this refrain in two versions: “I could have done more” and, still addressing himself, “You could have done more.” The difference was important and meaningful to him. When he heard himself say “you,” he experienced the refrain as critical; when he heard himself say “I” he took it as encouragement to improve. Talk about an inner environment dominated by the cortex

It has not escaped our attention that refrains like these are often, in some societies, considered spurs to achievement, and so they may be. We—the bloggers, or at least our cortices—have a ready reply: we are not condemning, simply observing.

Since the cortex can be programmed in ways that are incompatible with one another, the adherents of different programs (cultures) easily find many things to disagree on: morality, truth, priorities. And it takes very little to divide a group of ordinary people into hostile factions, as Muzawar Sherif’s Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated (Sherif, 1961).

Environment Essential Reads

Climate Heats Up Youth Across the Political Spectrum

Is Viewing Water Outdoors More Restorative Than Green Spaces?

Cortical Man can fasten onto any trait as the basis for belonging to a group and championing its conflicts. Hence, perhaps, history’s long, sad series of wars.