In our brain, there are not one but two decision-makers:
The PLANNER (our cortex), which suggests what we *should* do
And the GATEKEEPER (our basal ganglia), which decides whether to do it
The interaction between the two determines most of human behavior
(short thread)
1/9
For example, frustration arises from liking an outcome but not the action that achieves it.
For example, our cortex (the Planner) might decide that we *should* hit the gym. But our basal ganglia (the Gatekeeper) might not like exercising. The result: we do not go to the gym.
This circuitry is what you would observe if you dissected a human brain – the basal ganglia can inhibit the pathway between the cortex and the areas sending orders to our motor areas.
Now, let's see how the Planner and the Gatekeeper work and how we can influence that.
The Planner (our cortex) can make plans but does not have direct access to our muscles. Hence, its plans are only suggestions.
Instead, the Gatekeeper (a brain part called the basal ganglia) cannot make plans but can block the planner's suggestions from reaching the muscles.
For action to happen, our cortex must suggest it and our basal ganglia must approve it.
Either missing means that we do not take that action.
Much of habit formation is about ensuring that both happen.
Most habit formation advice is about the cortex.
It's either about making better decisions (i.e., sending better suggestions to our Gatekeeper) or removing cues from our environment (so that no harmful suggestions are sent to our GK).
But most advice ignores the Gatekeeper.
So, what causes the Gatekeeper to open or close the gate?
It's simple: experiential memory. The gate opens when the suggested action is remembered to have brought positive emotions in the past.
Keyword: remembered. The Gatekeeper cannot imagine or plan, only remember.
The part of you that can imagine, plan, and consider indirect or long-term consequences is the Planner.
Knowledge, imagination, and planning can only generate good suggestions. But they do not guarantee execution, nor do they prevent bad suggestions (created by instincts).
Here is the key: the Gatekeeper can only see what actions the planner suggested, not why it suggested them.
It can see that the Planner suggested to go to the gym, but it cannot know that it's to lose weight.
It can only remember how we felt the last time we exercised.
And if the last time we exercised we felt cold, or sweaty, or tired, the Gatekeeper thinks, "I won't do something that causes me to feel bad." It will close the gate, the action suggested by the Planner (our cortex) won't reach our muscles, and we will not go to the gym.
The Gatekeeper cannot listen to the Planner's motivations for taking an action.
The only way to convince the Gatekeeper to open the gate is to create a new experience that associates a positive emotion to the suggested action.
Hence, habit formation must speak BOTH to the Planner and to the Gatekeeper.
To the Planner: better knowledge, more cues for positive actions, fewer for negative ones.
To the Gatekeeper: new experiences creating new emotional associations.
And much of habit formation is about realizing that our Planner (our thinking self) cannot just "convince" the Gatekeeper to change. It can only do so indirectly, by planning actions the GK is already willing to take, and having those actions create new emotional associations
This thread is a short summary of the behavioral model I describe in one of the chapters of my book "The Control Heuristic"
amzn.to/3KplMIm
It's interesting what happens when the Gatekeeper closes the gate and the planner doesn't know why. It will CONFABULATE the reason.
In the example below, we do not go to the gym, but the Planner doesn't know why. He doesn't know it's because the Gatekeeper has negative emotional associations with exercising.
Hence, the planner will have to guess why we didn't go to the gym. Perhaps because it's raining?
Frustration is what happens when the Planner wants to do something but the Gatekeeper disagrees.
Frustration is the result of desiring an outcome but not the action that will achieve it.