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Gut feelings live without words
Three parts of the brain
The brain divides into three major components that line up with what, how, and why. The newest part, the neocortex, handles rational and analytical thought and language, and it corresponds to the what level. The two middle sections are the limbic brain, responsible for feelings like trust and loyalty, for all human behavior, and for all decision-making. It has no capacity for language.
People can understand vast amounts of complicated information like features, benefits, facts, and figures when it comes from the outside in, and it still doesn't drive behavior. Communication from the inside out speaks directly to the part that controls behavior, and people then rationalize the choice with the tangible things said and done.
Why it feels wrong
That is why somebody shown all the facts and figures can say they know what all the details say, but it just doesn't feel right. The part making the call can't put its reason into words, so the best available is: I don't know, it just doesn't feel right.
What happens when feeling is lost?
Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which links emotion to decisions. One of his well-known patients, called Elliot, kept his intelligence and memory after surgery to remove a tumor. Elliot nevertheless struggled to make even simple choices, such as which date to book for an appointment. Damasio described these cases in his 1994 book Descartes' Error.
Why do people rationalize gut decisions?
Neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga studied split-brain patients, whose two hemispheres had been surgically disconnected to treat severe epilepsy. When the right hemisphere acted on an instruction the left could not see, the left hemisphere promptly supplied an explanation for the action. Gazzaniga named this explaining system the interpreter. The explanations sounded confident but did not match the true cause.
Where does the three-part brain model come from?
Physician and neuroscientist Paul MacLean proposed the triune brain model in the 1960s. He described a reptilian complex, a limbic system, and a neocortex, each added in a different stage of evolution. The limbic system includes structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which are tied to emotion and memory. His model became popular outside science through books and talks.