Neuropsychology Reveals Where Our Idea of “Self” Comes From

The source of your negative mental chatter and how to step beyond it

Can you consider the thought that right now, in this very instance, everything is ok? You are alive. You are breathing. Nothing is missing. If something vital to your survival was missing right now, you wouldn’t be here.

Yet there is a voice in your mind that may be wanting to explain everything that is apparently going wrong in your life — right now. You may be observing yourself thinking how silly this exercise might be. But who is the one noticing these thoughts? Could you imagine that the only thing keeping you from peace is the thought that something is not as it should be?

Neuropsychology is helping us understand where in the brain these thoughts come from.

Understanding the root of our most fearful thoughts can completely shift our perspective and thus help us reduce the pain and suffering we feel as a result.

In his new book, “No Self, No Problem,” neuropsychologist Chris Niebauer, Ph.D discusses how the narratives that run through our minds are the result of an idea of a self that isn’t really there. As many Eastern spiritual traditions have been telling us for thousands of years, it is the clinging to our idea of an individual self that causes us so much pain. Science is slowly catching up to these teachings as it reveals that the way we see the world is based on an interpreter located in our left brain.

This article summarizes a few of the most fascinating insights from Niebauer’s book and how we can use them to find — or rather realize — more joy in this very moment.

THE STORY-TELLER IN YOUR LEFT BRAIN

Do you remember the last time you worried about what someone was thinking about you just to later find out that the opposite was true — perhaps they were actually inspired by you rather than judging you? Even though you didn’t know the full “story,” your brain created a story anyway.

You’ve probably heard about the two different sides of the brain:

• The left side is the center of language, analysis, reasoning, and pattern recognition.
• The right side is often described as the creative side as it lets us to see the bigger picture. According to Niebauer, the right brain “has more fibrous connections both within itself and to the rest of the brain” which helps us make novel connections between diverse ideas.

While the left brain looks at the world one piece at a time, the right brain looks at the underlying unity of things. The left side of the brain is what Niebauer calls “the interpreter.” It takes all of the pieces of data it perceives and categorizes it into chunks it can understand. Its worldview is limited of course, as it is based only on past experiences and knowledge. The left brain seems to have a need to create stories — stories that often deviate from reality.

WHAT’S THE STORY OF YOUR REALITY TODAY?

Our experience of reality is directly related to the story we choose to believe about it. Reality itself can only be experienced. Any attempt to conceptualize it simply turns it into a symbol, an idea, a representation that points to the experience — never the experience itself.

As soon as we try to describe what is happening, we lose touch with the actual experience.

The moment we put a label on something, we change the way we see it. This shifts our experience of it. If we take a drop of water from the ocean, it is still the ocean, but in our eyes, it has now become a drop of water. This doesn’t change the reality of the ocean, but it changes how we experience it in our mind.

The way we see life doesn’t change life itself, but it does change our unique experience of it.

The storyteller in our brain often misinterprets reality. If our brain is afraid that there is a lion around the corner, regardless of whether it’s there or not, we feel our hearts race faster and our palms sweat. If we tell ourselves a story that something will not turn out well in the future, that we aren’t loved or appreciated, or that we aren’t good enough, our bodies react accordingly. What stories do you most often notice playing out in your head about yourself, others, and life? Do they empower you or weaken you?

THE LEFT BRAIN’S MISINTERPRETATIONS

In his book, Niebauer explains the results of a study of split-brain patients by Dr. Gazzaniga. After each side of their brain was presented with pictures or action words (like “walk” or “run”), the patients were later asked to explain the actions they took as a result of seeing these. While the left brain offered plausible and coherent explanations, these explanations were completely incorrect based on the evidence available.

Additional studies by Dr. Ramchandran found that “the left brain’s role is one of beliefs and interpretation and that it had little regard for reality in making up its interpretations.”

If the interpreter in our brain is wrong so often, what does that say about the stories we tell ourselves through our thoughts and most strongly held beliefs? We often live with narratives that do not even come close to matching reality. We are so unaware of their presence that we identify our sense of self with them. We then experience the after-effects of these stories in our body as negative sensations which can eventually lead to stress, anxiety, and a host of mental and physical ailments.

THE SELF THAT DOESN’T EXIST

As Niebauer explains, neuroscience has not been able to identify a “self” in the brain. The self is an idea, a pattern created by the left brain. When we spend so much time worrying about our “self,” we are stressing about something that doesn’t have an existence independent of anything else. We are worried about an idea rather than actually experiencing the reality of what is.

My personal view is that the self is a concept that is necessary to describe a relationship. And our lives are nothing but relationships — not just to one another but to everything around us. Without identifying something else as hot, we wouldn’t know what cold is. Without identifying something as “other than self,” we wouldn’t be able to experience the uniqueness of the one piece of the whole that we are currently aware of as being “ourself.” This doesn’t mean that we don’t exist, it just means that we are much more than what we think we are. Thoughts are simply one aspect of a much larger field, a pattern of a much larger word-less fabric.

As Niebauer notes, many Eastern philosophies including Buddhism, Taoism, and Advaita Vedanta Hinduism have been telling us this for over 2,500 years. Our thoughts about ourselves create our idea of an individual self.

When we primarily identify with the left side of the brain, we see ourselves as limited to the context of our thoughts about ourselves. As we expand our thinking and open our minds, the right brain allows us to see ourselves as part of a bigger self. Both sides of the brain are necessary in order for us to function. How do we best utilize them to improve the quality of our lives?

GOING BEYOND THE STORY — BACK TO INNER PEACE

We are so used to identifying with that voice in our head that we aren’t even aware of its presence — like fish swimming in water, we ask “what water?”

1. Observe your own stories through meditation The prescription that Eastern philosophies and modern mindfulness practices offer against the mental suffering our thoughts cause us is to disidentify from the story in our minds — to simply see it as the story that it is. This means noticing how our minds work rather than being swept up in their current. Meditation is one of the tools to do that. It helps strengthen our mind by allowing us to see that we can choose where we place our attention — on the existing story, on creating a new story, or on simply being present. There are plenty of resources out there on this topic already but I will soon add a link to an article with a list of some of the things I do.
2. Observe your reactions to others’ stories When you are able to see the interpreter, the mind, for what it is, you no longer takes its stories so personally — or anyone else’s stories for that matter. Other people’s opinions become simply that — stories that they have created. On a larger scale, all stories are part of the greater story of humanity that we tell ourselves. Thus the need for us to be able to observe the stories we tell ourselves that no longer work & replace them with new ones. Every time you feel judged, victimized, or misunderstood, examine where those thoughts are coming from. They are the result of the left brain trying to create a story based on past experience and may have nothing to do with actual reality. Use both sides of your brain to question whether those thoughts are actually true. Then consider how your experience of this present moment could change if you simply decided to not identify your sense of self with those thoughts.
3. Activate the Right Brain by Being Present Niebauer suggests that one way to get more in touch with the right brain is by doing activities for no reason other than for the sake of doing them. Think of creative activities that you enjoy doing with no particular goal in mind but simply for the joy of doing them. Be present and you will experience reality as it is without the need to describe it or judge it in any way. Right brain activities are important because they allow us to move beyond words into different ways of seeing reality.

Through understanding the limitations of the left side of our brain, we are well on the way to going beyond them. Behind our thoughts — there we are. Back in the pure unclouded reality of simply being. Here. Now. Alive.

Sources: “No Self, No Problem,” Chris Niebauer, Ph.D., Hierophant Publishing 2019

Unexpected Uncertainty Can Breed Paranoia: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200609144446.htm