Robert Cormack

4 years ago · 4 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Are We Being Cruel To Our Prefrontal Cortexes?

Are We Being Cruel To Our Prefrontal Cortexes?

There's a difference between being informed and being Jello.

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There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.” Frank Zappa

We’re all preoccupied and distracted these days. Blame it on the Internet, blame it on smart phones, blame it on those annoying yet alluring pop-ups we get all the time. Just remember, you’re spending an average of five hours a day on this stuff. It might help to know if you’re wasting time or constructing it.

Reading this article, for instance, is probably stopping you from doing other things. Maybe you’re happy not doing other things. Or maybe you think this is your life.

It’s not. It’s actually my life. I write blogs which I hope are constructive. You, on the other hand, are looking to be entertained or mildly educated.

By truly preoccupied, I mean using your brain in such a way that it doesn’t become Jello.

Don’t get me wrong, I need the readership, but I’m also a realist. I know you’re only spending time here until you get distracted by something else. Yes, you’re going to get distracted. Your phone will ring, a text will pop up. Maybe someone’s going to knock on your door. Any number of things could happen — including me.

All these interruptions may seem harmless, but they’re distracting you from being truly preoccupied. By truly preoccupied, I mean using your brain in such a way that it doesn’t become Jello.

Based on what preoccupies us now, we may be Jello already, or we would be if we didn’t have articles like this one.

Even this could be wasting your time, so you’d better either put it down, or read on and find out what’s making us our brains Jello.

Distracted means we’ll drop whatever we’re doing to look at anything.

First of all, we need to recognize the difference between being engaged and being distracted. Engaged suggests we’ve got important things on our minds. Distracted means we’ll drop whatever we’re doing to look at anything.

As harmless as this may appear, scientists are definitely concerned about us watching anything—or becoming Jello.

They’ve done meticulous research showing that interruptions, distractions, constant noise all reduce our ability to think.

Multi-tasking, in particular, is one of the worst culprits. It’s what’s known as “task switching,” and this seriously impedes our logical, cognitive thought processes. Put into layman’s terms, it’s making us Jello Dopes.

If we’re to believe Susan Weinschenk Ph.D., writing in Psychology Today, many of us are losing up to 40% of our productivity through “task switching” which is playing havoc on our pre-frontal cortexes.

It seems our prefrontal cortexes were never designed for the type of cerebral hopscotching we engage in today.

Simply put, your cortex didn’t record, and what we leave blank may be more important than what we remember. This is called “maladjusted preoccupation.”

As we continue to add more tasks, this part of our brain doesn’t have time to process. Without processing, all the cortex can do is move on to the next piece of information.

At the end of the day, if you can’t remember what you did earlier, it’s like a defective answering machine. Simply put, your cortex didn’t record, and what we leave blank may be more important than what we remember. This is called “maladjusted preoccupation.”

We remember the Chubby Chicken deal at A&W, but forget to take our heart medication.

Here’s an even simpler explanation (since I’m sure you’re already thinking about something else).

They prioritized and decided they’d rather snip off an old cuticle.

When someone says, “Sorry I didn’t call you, I was preoccupied,” this is called “deflective preoccupation.” They prioritized and decided they’d rather snip off an old cuticle.

Most preoccupations are subconscious, meaning they’re done more by rote. Answering the phone, checking an email or text — these are all done by rote.

Our minds tell us there’s something very important waiting, so we react, we pick up the phone, we read a text. Yet, over the course of the average day, most messages, despite their intriguing subject lines are, frankly, distractions.

We’re all guilty of this, of course, but if our prefrontal cortex is going to stand any chance at all, we need to start focusing on what I call “essential preoccupation.”

If we heap all the emails, phone messages, texts — and CNN — we realize these distractions are just excuses. I say “excuses” because most preoccupation is what I’ll call “cerebral avoidance.” A woman, sitting on the bus, checking her texts, is avoiding her surroundings.

We’re all guilty of this, of course, but if our prefrontal cortex is going to stand any chance at all, we need to start focusing on what I call “essential preoccupation.”

To achieve essential preoccupation, I’ve outlined seven easy steps anyone can do to keep their brains sharp and uncluttered.

Look, most dogs with big snouts look like Spiro Agnew. Nixon only made him Vice President so he’d appeal to dog owners.

It’s Still Just a Dog: First of all, stop going on Facebook every time someone sends you a notification. The last one said: “Did you see the Collie? It reminds me of Spiro Agnew.” Look, most dogs with big snouts look like Spiro Agnew. Nixon only made him Vice President so he’d appeal to dog owners.

You Can’t Chew Gum at The Same Time: Doing three or four things at once may seem possible, but it’s not. Everything’s flying all over the place, playing havoc on your prefrontal cortex. As far as your brain is concerned, you’re not a juggler, you’re a clown.

Sorry I Didn’t Call You, I Was Thinking: You were thinking? That really surprises a lot of people. Some are even stunned into silence. Use this opportunity to move the conversation along to something serious (like the economy or why Golden Retrievers look like Bob Newhart).

Stop Being Self-Absorbed: If you find distractions impossible to ignore, turn off your computer and your lights. If your first thought is whether your phone can take selfies in the dark or not, you’re suffering from the worst type of avoidance: “self absorption.”

There are workshops that can train you to stop doing this. They’re called “overcoming immaturity.” Once you’ve got that solved, you can start building life skills known as “maturity.”

Grow a Pair: I mean a pair of ears. Learn to listen constructively. Separate “noise” from what is commonly referred to as “useful information.” Once you’re able to distinguish between the two, you’ll see a definite improvement in your knowledge and cognitive reasoning. You’ll also discover that Golden Retrievers look like Bob Newhart because they’ve got the same eyes. This is called “deductive reasoning.”

Do One Thing Well: Rather than trying to do everything at once, separate your daily activities into groups. Divide these groups into what’s important, what’s critical and what’s nonsense. Obviously, the critical group needs attention first, followed by the important group. If you’re expecting me to say the nonsense group comes after that, you haven’t been reading this very carefully.

Start the article again, only this time, try it without wondering if there’s pizza in the fridge. This should improve your cognitive thinking (and your diet).

The Three Ball Limit: There’s no shame in admitting you can’t do six things at once. I can handle typing, but add anything like phone calls, texts, or a dog that looks like Bob Newhart, and my productivity descends to the level of a hamster. Doing fewer things well is far more productive and rewarding.

So stick to two balls and give your prefrontal cortex a break.

Robert Cormack is a freelance copywriter, novelist, satirist and blogger. His first novel “You Can Lead a Horse to Water (But You Can’t Make It Scuba Dive)” is available online and at most major bookstores. For more details, check out Skyhorse Publishing or Simon & Schuster.

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Comments

Robert Cormack

4 years ago #11

I'll check it out. #11

Ian Weinberg

4 years ago #10

#5
Perhaps of interest to peruse the ‘Resources’ section on my website www.neuronostic.com

Ian Weinberg

4 years ago #9

#6
Makes good sense Ken Boddie keep the best for last!

Ken Boddie

4 years ago #8

#7
where do you think I copied It from in the first place? 🤣

Robert Cormack

4 years ago #7

#6
You bring up a good point, Ken. The pre-frontal cortexes of Trump supporters may be gone already.

Robert Cormack

4 years ago #6

You might do better putting this on one of Ian's articles. There's one up now—and it's a good one (lots to learn).#5

Ken Boddie

4 years ago #5

And here was I, Robert, believing that pre-occupied meant being fully engaged before being interrupted. Look on the positive side. As our attention spans shrink to no more than a couple of seconds, and our brain cells die off due to inactivity, there’ll be no further need for severing the connections to our frontal lobes. We might therefore just continue to kill off our brain cells with alcohol. In summary, I’d rather have a couple of empty bottles in front of me, than a pre-frontal lobotomy.

Robert Cormack

4 years ago #4

There's good coffee down here.#3

Jim Murray

4 years ago #3

Nice work, dude. I have always, through my professional life, had only one rule. Five words. Posted on a small stickie right next to the trackpad on my laptop....One Thing At A Time. I'm certain that this has allowed me to keep whatever sanity I was imbued with for many moons. And hopefully many more to come. I really have to get down to Port Dover and buy you a coffee.

Robert Cormack

4 years ago #2

I think we've rubber stamped a lot of stuff. #1

Ian Weinberg

4 years ago #1

I guess you just hit the nail right on the pre-frontal part of the head Robert Cormack I would add a footnote by saying that engagements, preferences as well as distractions all contribute to pre-frontal noise. So much so that it begs the question of who’s thoughts these really are? Perhaps we’re merely rubber-stamping short choice segments of endless noise?

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