Troublesome Topic: Trouble Making Decisions

This lesson is also taken from science.

The brain is part of the nervous system and is made up of nerve cells which differ only slightly from the nerve cells that course throughout the rest of our bodies. The neurons of the brain are highly involved in information storage and decision making. Our brains have approximately 100,000,000,000 neurons; that’s 100 billion neurons. Each one of those neurons is connected directly to approximately 100,000 other neurons. That equals 10 quadrillion direct connections in the human brain.

Signals in the nervous system have been measured to travel at around 272 miles per hour (438 km per hour). This means that information, and the steps involved in making a decision, can travel very quickly to a vast number of points, enabling the brain to consider many aspects of a decision in a very short amount of time. Maybe I should say that the brain can at least recognize the presence of many aspects of a decision very quickly; making a final decision may take considerable time.

While there are 10 quadrillion direct connections, there are many more secondary connections, the number multiplying exponentially each time. Since nerve signals travel at 272 miles per hour, and since the distances in the brain are very short, all this can happen very, very quickly to either make action happen, or give us cause to wait, and reconsider an action.

When you and I start the process of making a decision, be it big or small, our brain always considers several thousand other inputs before actually making that decision. I have not seen a list of those considerations, but knowing what life is like for us I will venture a guess.

Here are some of the things our brain is likely to consider all at the same time, before a decision can be made to do something:

– Is it safe (no bodily harm)?

– Does this fit my maleness or femaleness?

– Is it moral?

– What does my personality dictate?

– Do I have the time?

– Do I have the money?

– Will I enjoy this?

– Will it cost me hardship of any kind?

– Have I done this before, with what results?

– Have I been burned by this in the past?

– Is it culturally acceptable?

– Is it socially acceptable?

– Does this fit my priorities and life’s focus?

– Does this fit with, or violate my worldview?

– Will this make certain people mad?

– Will this make me look good or look bad?

– How will this affect my key relationships?

– What kind of emotions will this stimulate?

– and the list could go on and on.

Each of the things listed above probably includes a large number of individual elements, subcategories, if you will. When our brain wonders if something from the past affects this decision, there may be thousands of neurons that weigh in on the matter because they store memories, emotions or information about the past. The same could be said about relationships, emotions, etc. Issues like morality and world view involve many, many aspects, each of which can be very complicated. These things are informed by information, influences, experiences, etc. A great deal of our life can be involved in even small decisions. For important decisions, almost every aspect of our lives has some impact on the way we make that decision. That is why some decisions are excruciatingly hard to make.

By contrast a computer only does what it was programmed to do; it does not consider thousands of memories, facts, moral issues and relational issues before doing what it was told to do. That is why they can be much faster than the human brain at many things. However, our brains are more nuanced, more considerate of people, more creative, more personal, more emotional, etc. That is why we are better than computers at emotions, creativity, morality, relationships, etc.

A Real Life Example

The best example I can think of to illustrate how the human brain must consider thousands of other issues before proceeding has to do with a young man I will call Bob instead of using his real name. He was part of a team competing in one of those competitions that involves knowledge, memorization, and quick responses to questions. He studied hard and knew the material well. When he was at practice with only his team present, he was amazing; he could compete neck and neck with the leader of the team who often got awards for being one of the best competitors in the “league.”

Bob was fully comfortable with his teammates and coaches so he was able to function at a high level. But when other people were present, even those Bob knew fairly well, the result was totally different. In actual competitions he never got any questions right. Even when the other team made an error and Bob had a chance to pick up the “bonus” question from their error, he had no answers. One day his coach advised him, “Just say the first thing that comes to your mind because it will probably be right.” He responded, “There’s nothing there. Nothing comes into my mind in those situations. It’s totally blank.”

How could a young man who could tie or sometimes beat the best member of the team have a totally blank mind in a competition? I think the answer lies in the treatment he got from his father at home. He was often told he wasn’t doing something correctly, often spoken to with a harsh voice, often made to feel incompetent and useless. As a rare exception to what his life had become, he learned to be fully comfortable with his team; he felt truly safe with them. He knew that even if he made a mistake in practice, he would be praised for trying. He had learned that he would never get a harsh word at practice. But in any other situation he did not feel safe. In a competition setting, when he was asked a question, his mind would do what human brains are designed to do; the neurons involved would consult thousands of other neurons before making a decision. This would produce thousands of memories, failures, harsh words, etc. and all these things would not allow the signal carrying the right answer to get through to where it needed to go. His mind was indeed blank; he was paralyzed by those memories which were telling him to not take the risk of doing anything.

In reality the situation Bob grew up in was not as bad as some young people who have to deal with even more severe situations. But it was enough to cause him to live in constant fear, constant uncertainty. He, like all of us, has great potential, but that potential is being restrained by an army of ugly memories.

What is the answer for people like Bob? Remember what Romans 12:2 tells us? The transformation God wants to work in us will come about by the “renewing of our minds.” We need to be in the Word so much that it replaces those ugly and paralyzing messages with God’s empowering messages. Then we need to get so close to God that we are fully comfortable in his presence the way Bob was comfortable with his team.

When your mind is saturated with God’s Word you will not be paralyzed even if you do have ugly memories from your past. When you are in His word enough for it to become the primary influence in your life, temptations can come and your mind will consider thousands of things, most of which will be messages of truth from the creator or the universe, and therefore you will make the right decision.

Read Psalm 119:9-16 to see how much love the author of that psalm had for God’s word. We should love God’s word that way too.

The only way to renew your mind is through lots of time in prayer, lots of time in God’s word, and obeying what we read.

Satan Uses Or Brain Structure Against Us

It should be obvious from the example above how Satan can use this to his advantage. He rejoices when we give him more ammunition that he can use against us – more things we feel guilty about, more memories that will paralyze us. Life is hard enough, and debilitating memories come from many sources, don’t help Satan out by adding more of the wrong kind of memories or wrong kind of negative influences.  Remember that every time you are faced with a choice your brain will consider thousands of things before proceeding; if too many of those things have a paralyzing effect, then you will not be able to move forward.

But it should also be obvious how God can use our brain structure for good. Why did God design us that way? I think He did it so we would have to get closer to Him.

So determine to get closer to Him. Commit yourself to enjoying lots of time alone with Him every day (that means lots of prayer and Bible reading). That is the only way to reprogram your brain. Once your brain is filled with His word it will automatically (or at least easily) go in the direction that God wants it to go. Once the negative connections in your brain have been replaced with God’s words, there will be no end to the faith, boldness, or spiritual sensitivity you can exhibit. The people in the Bible and the people in church history who amaze us by the things that God was able to do through them were probably on this level. Once you replace those negative connections with positive messages from God’s word, you will be unstoppable!!

The next lesson is Plenty of Power Is Available