"This gut brain is like a regional administrative center that handles stuff the head brain does not need to bother with."
— Haidt, Jonathan
Author
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Basic Books
Date
2006
Metaphor
"This gut brain is like a regional administrative center that handles stuff the head brain does not need to bother with."
Metaphor in Context
Montaigne also noted the ways in which our facial expressions betray our secret thoughts; our hair stands on end; our hearts race; our tongues fail to speak; and our bowels and anal sphincters undergo "dilations and contractions proper to [themselves], independent of our wishes or even opposed to them." Some of these effects, we now know, are caused by the autonomic nervous system--the network of nerves that controls the organs and glands of our bodies, a network that is completely independent of voluntary or intentional control. But the last item on Montaigne's list--the bowels--reflects the operation of a second brain. Our intestines are lined by a vast network of more than 100 million neurons; these handle all the computations needed to run the chemical refinery that processes and extracts nutrients from food. This gut brain is like a regional administrative center that handles stuff the head brain does not need to bother with. You might expect, then, that this gut brain takes its orders from the head brain [End Page 5] and does as it is told. But the gut brain possesses a high degree of autonomy, and it continues to function well even if the vagus nerve, which connects the two brains together, is severed.
(pp. 5-6)
(pp. 5-6)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Haidt, Jonathan. The Happiness Hypothesis. New York: Basic Books, 2006. <www.happinesshypothesis.com>
Date of Entry
06/12/2009
