I was today years old when I learned about the Reticular Activating System.
I know that sounds pretty esoteric, but stick around. You’re about to have your eyes opened.
Actually, I had heard of the RAS – it’s just one of those random things that passes through my mind filter and keeps flowing. Maybe a piece or two of information gets trapped.
The reason I’m taking a look at the RAS today is because (drum roll!) I’m about to help you understand who you are and why you do and think the things you do.
Firstly, I am daily struck by how flat-out dumb some people seem to be. That’s my gut reaction. When I back down a bit, though, I wonder – what’s the origin of their beliefs? How can they, in the face of unbiased facts, cling to some bizarre, destructive belief?
Enter the RAS. This may not be as fascinating to you as it is to me. Fine. Go read someone else’s blog.
Still here?
Your RAS is sort of at the base of your brain. It acts as a filter against the data that is all around us.
Check it out. What sounds do you hear right now? I hear the clicking of my keyboard. A fan is whirring in the background. I have my Beats earphones in, and I’m listening to the soundtrack of “Encanto,” because, y’know, we don’t talk about Bruno.
I’m eating some Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds. I can look out the window at a staggeringly blue sky. And there are all sorts of other colors, images, pictures all around me.
It’s said there can be 2,000,000 pieces of data hitting us at once. That’s a lot.
Since our finite brains can manage only so much, that RAS kicks in. Using that “filter” analogy, your RAS only lets certain things get processed.
And what is the RAS set point? It filters out everything except what it thinks is important.
How does it know what is important? This is huge.
It filters out everything except what you focus on most. Or, as Earl Nightingale said, “You are what you think about.”
Have you ever noticed:
- People who say “I’m always late” are always late?
- People who say, “I’m not very confident” aren’t very confident?
- People who say, “I can’t lose weight” can’t lose weight?
- And – people who say, “This is a dark and scary world” live in a dark and scary world?
Like I said, this RAS thing is huge.
Hey – have you ever said anything like:
- ”I’m really bad at this.”
- ”I always mess up.”
- ”I never have enough money.”
- ”I’m afraid of losing friends.”
What happens is that your RAS will show you things that those statements are true for you. Self-fulfilling prophecies, if you will.
To drill down even further, consider this: The more proof you see, the stronger your belief that it is true.
And where do you get your proof? More on that a bit later.
So – the stronger your belief is, the more likely you are to tell it to yourself … over and over. Self-talk leads to “proof” which leads to belief.
My concern – and it should be yours, too – is that proof can be subjective. That potentially problematic RAS keeps you from considering that where you get proof/facts is fallible. You come at beliefs with your mind made up (the RAS again), and it rejects anything contrary to what you believe.
Culturally, this could impact things like your thoughts about global warming, COVID (masks? No masks? Vaccines? No vax?), your politics, your religion (or lack of it), even who you perceive to be “The Enemy.” You restrict your input to like-minded people, your favorite news sources for the truth (like YouTube), etc.
Your RAS loves this. It doesn’t want things complicated.
This is all fixable. Here are three thoughts.
- Set your RAS to look for the positives.
- I am great at this.
- I am always on time.
- I am confident.
- I listen to diverse voices.
- I embrace truth, even when it’s contrary to what I want to believe.
- If you do this effectively, then your RAS will start showing you things that verify your new beliefs.
- Change, and the world will change for you.
People talk about what an upside down world they live in. There is much said about “living in fear.” That’s not of God, of course, but what I’m noting in these days is that fear exists all across the spectrum. I think that you choose what you’re afraid of, and it all has to do with that RAS working.
As an example, you might say:
- ”I’m afraid of getting vaccinated. Who knows what’s in that stuff?”
- ”I’m afraid of not getting vaccinated. I don’t want to end up in the hospital.”
- ”I’m afraid of what’s going on in government. It’s awful.”
- ”I’m afraid that others aren’t taking comfort in the lessons of history. It’s been awful before.”
I could go on, but you catch my drift.
If, based on what you’ve read (and I’d encourage you to do a little research on your own – I love this stuff) and you can see that your RAS can take you places you don’t want to go, consider – your RAS can take you to where you need to be.
Here’s the punch line, and it’s a good one if you’re looking to reprogram your RAS:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8
Talk later!