Learn to Objectively View Your Thoughts and Emotions! The "Four Brain Character Setting Method"

Don't you find it difficult to look at your own thoughts and emotions objectively?

Simply by setting up "four characters" in your brain, each with a different personality, it becomes much easier to view things objectively.

By viewing your brain like a "shared house" where four characters live, you can start to see your various thoughts, emotional conflicts, and desires from a bird's-eye view.

This method is based on the content of "My Stroke of Insight" by neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, and the "Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument" (HBDI) concept by Ned Herrmann, who was the head of management education at General Electric (GE) in the United States.

For those interested in objectively observing their own inner self, this content will surely be useful, so I hope you will read it to the end.

1. Why is it difficult to view your own emotions and thoughts objectively?

It is quite difficult to "be objective about yourself" or "look at things from a bird's-eye view," isn't it?
Why is that?

It is because it is difficult to separate the emotions and thoughts that are the "objects of observation" from the "self that is the observer." Therefore, by setting up four characters in your brain, each with a different personality, and listening to what those characters are saying,

you can create distance between your emotions and thoughts and your observing self..

2. What are the four characters?

The human brain can be broadly divided into three parts: the brainstem, the limbic system (paleocortex), and the neocortex.

The brainstem is the reptilian brain. It is the brain that governs life maintenance, such as making the heart beat and regulating body temperature.
The limbic system is the mammalian brain. It is the brain that governs emotions, which are useful for acting in groups to survive and reproduce.
The neocortex is the human brain. It is the brain that governs thinking, enabling advanced mental activity.

By combining the limbic system and neocortex, which are involved in emotions and thinking, with the left and right brain, the parts of the brain involved in emotions and thinking can be divided into four.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist and author of "My Stroke of Insight," lost the function of her left brain due to a stroke and recovered it through eight years of rehabilitation.
Based on that experience, she likens the brain to a shared house with "four characters who think and feel differently" and calls them "Character 1" through "Character 4."

• Left Neocortex = "Character 1"

• Left Limbic System = "Character 2"

• Right Limbic System = "Character 3"

• Right Neocortex = "Character 4"

By perceiving your brain in this way and seeing which character in your brain your emotions and thoughts are coming from, you can observe your inner self as if from a bird's-eye view.

3. How to set the characteristics of the characters

[Setting them by referring to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's "characters" and the "types" of the Herrmann model]

This is my own unique setting.

I have added the concept of Ned Herrmann's "Herrmann model" to the characteristics of the characters explained by Dr. Taylor.

The Herrmann model also uses a way of thinking that divides the brain into four parts: the neocortex, the limbic system, the right brain, and the left brain.
It does not necessarily view each as a character, but it divides them into four types based on which part is used dominantly.

• Left side of the neocortex is dominant = "Type A"

• Left side of the limbic system is dominant = "Type B"

• Right side of the limbic system is dominant = "Type C"

• Dominant right side of the neocortex = "Type D"

While there are some similarities between Dr. Taylor's characters and the characteristics of each type in the Herrmann Model, there are many areas, especially regarding the right brain, that do not align.
(Specifically, we will look at this in more detail later.)

Regarding Dr. Taylor and the Herrmann Model, whether one is right and the other is wrong, or if both are wrong, we cannot know the truth just by thinking about it.
I think it is fine to choose either, or even to set them up yourself however you like.
After all, we cannot know what the truth is anyway.

I believe it is best for each person to set them up in a way that becomes a useful tool for viewing their own inner self objectively.

That doesn't cause any trouble for anyone, and it doesn't mean I am rejecting Dr. Taylor or the Herrmann Model.
Rather, I have huge respect for them.

And I have found that the characteristics of Dr. Taylor's characters 1 and 2, and the Herrmann Model's types C and D, resonate with me and are useful for viewing myself objectively, so I have set them up as a mix.

To help everyone reading this text choose the characteristics of their own brain characters, I will explain each of Dr. Taylor's characters and each type of the Herrmann Model from here on.

【Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's Four Characters】

I will quote from the book how Dr. Taylor explains each character.
First, let's look at the left brain's "Character 1" and the right brain's "Character 4".

It was long, so I took a break.
Is everyone reading this doing okay?
(If it's too long and difficult, you can feel free to skim over these quotes.)

Now, I will also quote the left brain's "Character 2" and the right brain's "Character 3".

How about it? Did you grasp the characteristics?
For those who think, "It doesn't really click," I have prepared this as well.

On the back of the book's obi strip, it is written like this.

Some of you might have thought, "Show me this first!"

But I suspect that Dr. Taylor did not choose these words, but rather they were chosen by the people trying to sell the book.
I thought it would be better to avoid any strange preconceptions, so I quoted from the main text first.

I think it is perfectly fine to view Dr. Taylor's character traits as existing within your own brain just as they are.
However, personally, I found the Herrmann Model, especially the characteristics regarding the right brain, to be more resonant.

【Ned Herrmann's "Herrmann Model"】

Ned Herrmann was the head of the management development department at General Electric (GE) in the United States.
The "Herrmann Model" has been adopted by top-tier companies such as GE, IBM, Canon, Coca-Cola, and Shiseido.

In the case of the "Herrmann Model," the brain part that is used preferentially among the four brain quadrants is called the dominant brain, and they are referred to as "Dominant Brain Type A" through "Dominant Brain Type D."

• Dominant left side of the neocortex = "Type A"

• Limbic system left side dominant = "Type B"

• Limbic system right side dominant = "Type C"

• Neocortex right side dominant = "Type D"

As I showed you earlier, I will display this diagram again as I think it is easy to understand.

Although I am not using the term character, the classification method is the same as Dr. Taylor's.
The characteristics of each part of the brain are cited below.

And, the types are classified according to which part of the brain is used dominantly.
In addition to A, B, C, and D, the Herrmann Model types include AB, BC, CD, AD, and ABCD, for a total of 9 types.

However, here, to avoid becoming too complex for the purpose of setting up the four brain characters, I will cite the four types: A, B, C, and D.

How about it?
I hope you will try to set these four characters within yourself, using these as a reference.

4. Why I also incorporate the Herrmann Model

The characteristics of Dr. Taylor's Character 4 did not quite resonate with me.

I felt that the characteristics of high-level mental activity, such as the parallel thinking of the right brain, were mixed with the state of consciousness when brain activity quiets down during meditation.

In order to objectify one's own emotions and thoughts, it is better if those characteristics of oneself as an observer are not included in the brain characters.

Also, I think the limbic brain serves the purpose of mammals surviving and reproducing while acting in herds.
In that respect, I thought the Herrmann Model's Type C, which has the characteristics of maternal instinct to protect children within a herd, was more fitting than Dr. Taylor's Character 3.

I think Dr. Taylor's Character 3 and the Herrmann Model's Type D are similar.
That characteristic is the image of an artist who is free-spirited and has a childlike playfulness.
Rather than the purpose of survival and reproduction, I wanted to set it as a neocortex character because it is an advanced mental activity of evolved humanity.

And this is just my own personal opinion.
Dr. Taylor lost her left brain function and spent eight years recovering.
I think that in the process of her left brain recovering, she was able to observe exactly which part of the left brain controls which function.
Therefore, I think the "allocation of left brain functions to Character 1 and Character 2" is good.

However, I think the "allocation of right brain functions to Character 3 and Character 4, which remained after the loss of left brain function," might be more difficult than the "allocation of left brain functions to Character 1 and Character 2."
I believe that is where the difference from the Herrmann Model emerged.

Also, Dr. Taylor's Character 2 and the Herrmann Model's Type B might look different, but I think they are the same at the root.
They are based on the instincts of survival and reproduction.

To avoid the crisis of survival and reproduction, the emotion of fear arises, and the choice is made to fight, flee, or play dead.

A value system of wanting to cherish the organization (herd) and take the most advantageous position within it in order to survive.
Being obedient to those with higher standing within the organization.
Appealing one's superiority to those below oneself. Perhaps trying to assert dominance.
Taking an exclusionary attitude toward enemies of the organization (herd).

I think this kind of attitude exists to some extent within everyone.
I believe that whether or not it is more dominant than other characters changes the actual emotions, thoughts, and words and actions that occur.

And, as I have already shown in this article once before, these are my settings.

It might change again after some time has passed, though.

5. Summary

Thank you for reading this far.
If you would like, please use this as a reference to set up your own characters within yourself.

Also, when unpleasant emotions well up and it is painful because they won't subside (usually Character 2 is overreacting to a risk), or if you are doing journaling or mindfulness meditation, please try to observe what the characters are saying and what they are wishing for at that time.

I try to listen to Character 4's desires as much as possible while properly grasping and soothing Character 2's talk without ignoring it.