ERNIE AND ERNESTINA: The Writer, His Wife, and their Afterlife

Book One, Part Two, Chapter 98: The Primitive Brain

I read today, in an article by K. C. Cole, that it takes up to six seconds for our brains to process complex emotions such as compassion or admiration. Most people react too quickly, relying only on their primitive brain, and the primitive brain, writes K. C. Cole, is “fast, bossy, sure of itself, and never shuts up.”

The primitive brain is not always so sure of itself. At least, mine isn’t. Most of the time, it’s scared. And I cover my fear with arrogance or impulsiveness or sarcasm. My attitude is, or used to be: I know it all, and this is what’s going on.

But in the past, I didn’t know it all. I didn’t even know how scared I was.

I don’t want to be a primitive anymore . . . and that’s scary, too.