Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health (5 page)

own unique perception, based on these implanted thoughts

that form our point of view, on our way to verbalization or

action we perform. So in simple terms, what we say and do

is based on what we have already built into our minds. We

evaluate this information and make our choices based on this

information, then we choose to build a new thought, and this

is what drives what we say or do.

This brain activity, seen in brain imaging, is not the result

of machine-like activity; it is simply the build-up to the mo-

ment of consciousness. It is the activity of a network of neural

circuits that begin to prepare for an upcoming decision long

before it enters our awareness. It is the intellectualizing that is

happening in the nonconscious mind. In other words, “As he

thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). We are not driven by

forces beyond our conscious control. We are accountable for

every thought and decision we make.4 We are highly intelligent

beings with free will, and we are responsible for our choices.

Some forward-thinking researchers have found that when

people doubt free will, they become more dishonest. It is

almost as though denying free will provides the ultimate ex-

cuse to behave however people want without accountability

for their actions.5

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Choice and Your Multiple-Perspective Advantage

Other researchers found that believing in free will guides

people’s choices toward being more moral and better perform-

ers. They go so far as to say that the more researchers investigate

free will, the more reasons there are to believe in it, and that

to an extent those who believe otherwise delude themselves.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (NLT) says it like this: “God created

people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow

their own downward path.” A standard definition of free will

is a “set of capacities for imagining future courses of action,

deliberating about one’s reason for choosing them, planning

one’s actions in light of this deliberation and controlling

actions in the face of competing desires.”6 This, I believe, is

how we choose to follow either God’s path or Satan’s path.

Science is proving free will right down to the genetic level.

Let’s take a look at some of the evidence.

Choice Has Mental Real Estate

Choice has mental “real estate” around the front of the brain. It

includes many circuits that start at the basal forebrain (between

your eyebrows) and extend back across the frontal lobe, which

is capable of an impressive array of functions and is connected

to all other parts of the brain. It is also where connections from

all the other parts of the brain converge. Specific circuits go to

structures like the insula, corpus callosum, anterior and pos-

terior central gyrus, basal ganglia, precuneus, and subgenuel

region of the brain.7 This arrangement enables the frontal lobe

to integrate and manage activities in the other parts of the brain.

We Can Observe Our Own Thoughts

One of the most exciting features of frontal lobes is how they

enable us in a sense to stand outside ourselves and observe

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Inside the Brain

fornix

corpus callosum

caudate

septum pelucidum

(part of basal ganglia)

dura mater

stria terminalis

ACG

hypothalamus

PFC

thalamus

insula & claustrum

(deep to lateral sulcus)

pineal gland

mamillary body

amygdala

basal forebrain

(contains septal nuclei)

hippocampus

pituitary gland

entorhinal cortex

(surrounds

CRF

hippocampus)

sight

cerebellum

ACTH

midbrain

nerves

pons

medulla

hear

smell

reticular activating system

(inside brain stem)

taste

touch

heart

spinal cord

adrenaline

adrenal glands

corticosteroids

kidneys

emotional

black hole

spinal nerves

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Choice and Your Multiple-Perspective Advantage

our own thinking. We can observe our thoughts and actions

and make decisions about them. Suddenly, biblical principles

such as “bringing all thoughts into captivity,” “renewing your

mind,” “casting all your cares,” and “being anxious for noth-

ing” become less difficult when we realize God has given us

the equipment to do these things.

When we choose life (Deut. 30:19), the diamond increases

its shine; when we choose anything other than life, the dia-

mond loses its shine. This is a simple analogy of what hap-

pens in the brain. The wrong choices cause brain damage.

The right choices enhance brain function.

Our MPA

We have what I like to call “multiple-perspective advan-

tage”—MPA for short. Our unique, multifaceted nature,

made in God’s image, allows us to see things from many

different angles—like different perspectives. We have the

unique opportunity to assess our thoughts and their im-

pact and choose to connect to the vine that is Christ (John

15:1–5)—to restore growth and prune off the branches of

toxic thinking.

We are directly responsible for what we choose to think

about and dwell on, and we make these decisions in the pri-

vacy of our own thinking. As you think, it is important to

make a distinction between who you truly are—the real,

multifaceted, unique you—and the person you have become

through toxic choices. Fortunately, you can see both and

choose to reconnect with the vine (John 15) and renew your

mind (Rom. 12:2). Your brain will follow the instructions and

choices of your mind and change its landscape accordingly.

Part 2 of this book will help you do just that.

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