24 June 03

Your "Lizard Brain"

In a recent conversation with good friend, Dave Grossman, Dave mentioned that he had recently talked with a gaggle of bearded, bespectacled psychiatrists (all with heavy, German accents). Dave was getting their advice on the differences between the human "front brain" and the "mid-brain." They had a number of terms for the "mid-brain," all with a minimum of six syllables and all difficult to pronounce. When Dave suggested to them the term, "mid-brain," they all nodded in wavering agreement that the term was probably adequately descriptive and that longer and more difficult terms would never see general use anyway.

What Dave, Gary Klugiewicz, and I all concur on is that lifesaving, psychomotor skills, intended to be used in an emergency must eventually filter from the frontal lobes (front brain), where they are first learned, into the mid-brain (primitive or "lizard" brain) if they are ever going to be accessible when one is in a hyper-stressful, crisis environment.

The frontal lobes is where our intellect dwells. Its precocious and elevated development separates us from lower forms of life. In one's frontal lobes lives discernment, understanding, and our ethical skeleton. However, the frontal lobes are also the residence of confusion, indecision, hesitation, and panic. The frontal lobes are never really quite sure of anything! The front brain is the "legislative branch" of our intelligence. The mid-brain is the "executive branch." The front brain works just fine when we are, at a leisurely pace, contemplating our navels, but, in a life-threatening emergency, a shrewd front brain wisely hands off operations to the mid-brain.

The mid-brain has no philosophy, no hesitation, and no regret. It knows only death, and life, and nothing in between! The mid-brain is never confused and never dithers. Its job is to get us out of this mess alive! It is poor at multitasking. It acts decisively and only does one thing at a time. It never apologizes, never looks back, and sheds no tears.

Unfortunately, the mid-brain is ignored in the training philosophy of many institutions. We do too much training "in the abstract." "In the abstract" is where all training must begin, because the front brain is the entry point for all information. Unhappily, that is where much of what passes for training also ends. As the student is gradually immersed in the training environment, stress levels must be increased so that important psychomotor skills begin to filter into the mid-brain. The mid-brain will only "know what to do" if the student has been "stress inoculated."

The hand-off from front brain to mid-brain must be seamless and immediate. The mid-brain has to "hit the ground running" if there is to be any chance that it can act in time to save your life. You need to "have a plan," and it must reside in the mid-brain. Unhelpful thoughts, swimming around in your front brain, must be jettisoned before they contaminate your mid-brain. This will mean endless repetitions under physical stress and anxiety.

Ultimately, your front brain will be of limited use during a crisis. In fact, it (and you, if you don't permit a hand-off to the mid-brain) will be little more than a blithering, dithering buffoon! If the hand-off to your mid-brain is smooth, authoritative, and timely, and your mid-brain has been well trained , it will know what to do and will act decisively to save your life. Treat it well. Train it well!

/John

24 June 03

From a LEO friend in OH:

"I have run fifty 135gr PowerBall rounds thru my G23. I have to say that this stuff is the stoutest ammo I have shot yet. Velocity of 1325fps is cited on the box, but I got nothing lower than 1355 and as high as 1405, with the majority at 1375fps. Hot stuff!"

Comment: I believe PowerBall is going to be "the way to go" in all serious calibers. Solves a number of problem at once. Great product!

/John