Psychology 101: The human brain does not work effectively in the midst of disorder, disorganization and chaotic situations…

 

Psychology 101: The human brain does NOT function effectively in the midst of disorder, disorganization and chaotic situations - your brain prefers a life with order, precision, accurate prediction, and purpose with goals to live it -

**By Hector Williams Zorrilla

Dr. Viktor Emil Frankl (pictured on the cover of this short essay), survived the Nazi Holocaust. His elderly mother, his brother and almost all of his close relatives died in the gas chambers, or by forced labor and starvation.

Dr. Frankl saw many thousands of people of all ages die before his eyes, while he waited for his turn to be put into the gas chambers.

Dr. Frankl survived the Nazi Holocaust, and was released when that dark nightmare in the pages of humanity ended.

Dr. Frankl became a world hero.

In the midst of that horrible and indescribable situation, Dr. Frankl learned several things about how the human brain works in the midst of the imminent danger of physical death.

Dr. Frankl's first learning: The human brain works best when it can accurately predict what is going to happen next in life.

Neuroscience research has verified this "intuition" that Dr. Frankl observed in the midst of the Nazi Holocaust.

The human brain spends a large portion of its energies and powers predicting what is going to happen next. That is, every time we take an action (show a certain behavior), our brain automatically predicts what the results of that action will be, and what the next action will be.

This is how our brain forms automatic habits that we carry out without thinking that we are carrying them out. These usual mechanisms of the human brain allow the brain to save energy for other activities.

Second learning from Dr. Frankl: The human brain functions better and more effectively when there are transcendent purposes for living life.

The human brain needs powerful and valuable reasons to live, beyond the immediate survival of simply living because you are alive.

Dr. Frankl accurately observed during his years within the Nazi Holocaust that the people who survived starvation, forced labor and gas chambers were the people who had transcendent purposes, and therefore hoped to get out of there alive to achieve them. People who lacked transcendent purposes for living simply gave themselves over to death, and either died of starvation, forced labor, or were called to the gas chambers.

Neuroscience research confirms these "intuitions" of Dr. Frankl.

For the human brain to function fully, it needs to be imbued with transcendent purposes for living life. And furthermore, it is these purposes that, when fulfilled, continue to give more purposes and valuable meanings to each human life.

Dr. Frankl is the creator of the humanistic and existential approach in scientific psychology called Logotherapy. In the process of logotherapy, the participants find the transcendent purposes for their lives, both when they have lost them in the processes of life, and when they have never had the opportunity to discover them.

**The author is a psychologist, university professor and writer