The other side of complexity
I love complex problems. And I have a deep appreciation for others who can navigate complexity, sift through the layers, and arrive on the other side.
For those who do this seemingly effortlessly, what they discover is that on the other side of complexity is simplicity.
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for our higher cognitive abilities. It is the place we collect data, problem solve, plan ahead, assess risk, evaluate rewards, analyze thoughts, suppress urges, learn from experience, make moral decisions, and give rise to our normal sense of self.
Cognitive neuroscientist Arne Dietrich has been an athlete his whole life, and was fascinated by the zone, or flow state, which is a common occurrence for endurance and adventure athletes. What he noticed is that anytime he entered a flow state, complexity seemed to fade away, decisions were easy and automatic. “It was like the opposite of thinking,” he said.
Up until Dietrich began to examine the brain activity in a flow state, neuroscientists thought that parts of the prefrontal cortex were becoming hyperactive during flow. Dietrich found the inverse was true: parts of the prefrontal cortex are actually temporarily deactivated during flow, and the brain traded the energy typically used for higher cognitive functions and used that energy for heightened attention and awareness.
It is this heightened attention and awareness that makes way for simplicity to emerge.
Scientists have studied the brain activity of master chess players and found little activity in the prefrontal cortex. After years of playing, they had internalized board patterns and move sequences and did not have to rely on their conscious mind to work through every option.
What this study revealed about decision making is that human beings have evolved two distinct systems for processing information. The first is the explicit system, and is tied to conscious awareness.
But when the rule-based system of logic is swapped out for the gut sense of intuition, this is the implicit system at work. This system relies on skill and experience, is not consciously accessible, and cannot be described verbally.
There are two advantages to the brain using the implicit system: the first is speed, and the second is efficiency.
The chess masters were using their implicit system.
Photo by Emiliano Arano on Pexels
What scientists now understand is that high performance and flow states don’t just use one part of the brain. They use and move fluidly through different parts of the brain.
Neuroscientist Leslie Sherlin has identified a six-stage process that our brains go through when we make decisions:
Baseline state
Novel stimuli shows up
Problem-solving analysis
Pre-action readiness
Post-action evaluation
Back to baseline
Each stage requires different parts of the brain and produces different brain waves.
In learning from adventure athletes, scientists observe that without a calm, relaxed frame of mind, the brain is incapable of switching from beta-dominated networks (needed for problem-solving analysis) to alpha waves (needed for creative decision-making).
What complex decisions are you currently facing? How much ease do you experience when making decisions? Are you moving fluidly through analysis and into action? Or do you get hung up in analysis (weighing the risks, feeling the fear) and delay getting into action?
Where do you over-rely on your explicit system of rational thinking and underestimate your implicit system based on intuition?
If you were to listen to your intuition, where would you see simplicity emerge?
Love,
Audrey
