When deciding whether or not to gobble down the ice cream, some networks in your brain want the sugar; other networks vote against it based on long-term considerations of vanity; other networks suggest that perhaps you could eat the ice cream if you promise yourself you’ll go to the gym tomorrow. Your brain is like a neural parliament, composed of rival political parties which fight it out to steer the ship of state. Sometimes you decide selfishly, sometimes generously, sometimes impulsively, and sometimes with the long-view in mind. We are complex creatures because we are composed of many
...more
