According to Doug Lisle’s, The Pleasure Trap, the primitive parts of all animal brains are pre-programmed with what is termed as the Motivational Triad. To:
- Seek pleasure
- Avoid Pain
- Conserve Energy
The Triad has evolved over millions of years for some animals and tens of thousands of years for humans. The Primitive (or Reptilian) Brain reacts quickly to stimulus – way faster than our thinking, reasoning brain – and way more powerful. The Fight or Flight response (Avoid Pain) is an example of this evolution. It’s why you can react without even thinking.
In his book The Emotional Brain, Joseph Ledoux makes the case that the pre-programming of our brains goes much further than just the Triad. When the Primitive Brain is in power and reacts to something, it CONVINCES the the reasoning, CONSCIOUS parts of our brain that it was the right thing to do.
The conscious, cognitive, reasoning part of our brain is what keeps us out of the trouble our Primitive Brains could get us into. The Frontal Cortex evaluates situations and decisions to make sense out of them. Jonathon Haidt in The Happiness Hypothesis makes the case that the reasoning brain is like a rider on an elephant. We exercise very little control over our Primitive Brain. Some less than others.
Conscientiousness is one of the Big 5 Personality Traits and people high in Conscientiousness are typically self-disciplined, hard-working and goal driven. They identify an objective and then apply themselves until achieved.
