INsight/ Biology of Fear

Photo by Crawford Jolly on Unsplash. Art by the pink bear.rebel.

Manila, 28 July 2022 — Why freedom from mental conditioning matters to executives and professionals.

Story

It happened this week. Through a community of fellow coaches, I learned about the research by Rebecca Heiss, an evolutionary biologist, and by Due Quach, a neuro-leadership advocate. From complementary angles, these two researchers are uncovering how the mental conditioning that we have inherited from our ancestors can produce and perpetuate fear and exclusion in the workplace, including in ourselves. While I think that this knowledge is relevant for any working professional, it is especially important for executives to take note of this. Why? Because their position power can by itself already trigger a sense of exclusion when they join a discussion.

The story takes us back to our human ancestors who lived on our planet hundreds of thousands of years ago. From the study of evolutionary biology, we learn that our brains today still incorporate parts and functions that enabled our ancestors to survive in the midst of daily danger from wild animals. As a result, an amygdala hijack — named after the ancient part of our brain that triggers our fight or flight response — can today still overpower our newer executive brain functions. Quach calls the old part Brain 1.0 (nickname Inner Godzilla). It helps you survive, no matter how.

As our ancestors evolved and learned to live and work together in tribes and larger groups, it became essential to like and support your tribe members (your in-group) while keeping a healthy distance from other tribes that could threaten your existence (your out-group). Today, we can still see such behavior whenever we observe an ‘us and them’ mentality that gives more attention and resources to our in-group, to the disadvantage of an out-group. Quach calls this Brain 2.0 (nickname Inner Teen Wolf), which caters to your ancient instinct to like and feel safe with people who are like you, and to keep away from people who are different. A review of Quach’s work helps to explain why exclusion in the workplace has such deep roots. So then, what lies beyond Brain 1.0 and Brain 2.0?

Challenge

The good news, according to Quach, is that in our modern time, we can access a more enlightened and inclusive way of thinking and work, which she calls Brain 3.0 (nickname Inner Sage). And how easy is it for us to activate this Brain 3.0? Here is where our story takes a dramatic turn. As Heiss explains, our conscious brain, notwithstanding all its evolution, can still only process a tiny amount — less than 1 percent — of the information it receives every second. That means that more than 99 percent of the bits of information we receive will get processed subconsciously. And that is where, according to Heiss, our instincts still play a leading role, driven by our primitive brain functions and the fears that helped our ancestors survive. 

What we can learn from the research conducted by Heiss into our brain’s functioning is that we, as modern humans, are still conditioned to keep using our brain’s ancient ways of thinking. Many of the irrational fears that our minds still generate today, and that can easily trigger a sense of exclusion, date back to the times when conditions were so different for our ancestors than what we experience today. Unfortunately, the fears of Brain 1.0 and Brain 2.0 that helped our ancestors to survive are still casting a shadow over how our brains operate in our world and workplaces today, driven to a large degree by our subconscious.

When Quach mentioned that she could find no better nickname for Brain 3.0 than Inner Sage, that resonated with me. It painted a context for seeing in a new light how the wisdom traditions of the East, including Buddhism and its Chán and Zen offshoots in China and Japan, have focused relentlessly on helping people find freedom from their mental conditioning, especially the kinds of narrow-minded thinking that results in unhealthy, harmful, exclusionary behaviors. Described as Enlightenment by mainstream Buddhist traditions, and as Wù in China and Satori in Japan, this experiencing of freedom opens a radically different perspective of life, as in seeing into one’s true nature beyond dualistic conditioning. Today’s widespread attention to cultivating mindfulness in the workplace might be a step towards that freedom, as you awaken your Inner Sage.

Question

The enduring biology of fear that we have inherited with our powerful brain has severe consequences for our intention to promote mental wellness and inclusion in the workplace. Without an active awareness of the source of the scary thoughts, biases, and prejudices from Brain 1.0 and Brain 2.0 in our subconscious minds, leaders will find it difficult to move forward and be a force for good. Cultivating such awareness (or mindfulness) and adopting more healthy behaviors has, for many ages, been the focus of Asia’s wisdom traditions. As Quach might say, we all have an Inner Sage to awaken and cultivate.

At TransformationFirst.Asia, our approach to leadership development takes in the lessons from the latest research and from Asia’s wisdom traditions that have stood the test of time to consistently produce positive outcomes in gaining freedom from the chains of mental conditioning. Our coaching aims to help you expand your awareness, overcome negative mental conditioning, and practice leadership behaviors that will transform how you show up in the workplace. 

As we have seen, gaining freedom from our mental conditioning as humans and leaders is not easy. We can all use help from others to make progress on this path. That, in essence, is what our leadership coaching and training are about. My question for your this week is what you are doing to gain freedom from the biology of fear? If you feel that have work to do in this area and that your mental conditioning is holding you back in your performance, career, or wellness, book a free strategy call to discuss what you want your next leadership transition to look like.