Dr. Amen I Say to You

The recognition that we are all born with strengths and weaknesses sits at the core of the Community of Excellence philosophy. Until now I had never cared as to what sits at the core of strengths and weaknesses. But then I was introduced to the work of Dr. Daniel Amen.

Among other things, Dr Amen is a Clinical Neuroscientist and Psychiatrist. His professional disciplines grew from a realization that for most of its existence Psychiatry ignored the brain’s physiology when diagnosing and treating mental illness. It does make sense to see if there are physical causes for psychotic behaviors especially once it was discovered that specific areas of the brain were responsible for specific behaviors. We use one part of our brain to translate the images our eyes take in and another part to send impulses to the heart to pump blood. But there are also different parts of the brain that govern being able to sustain our attention to repetitive tasks and for our ease at analyzing complex problems and determining innovative solutions.

Not only do we look different, sound different, have different levels of visual artistic talent, but also we are constructed differently brain-wise. There is a physiological reason to bind together with others. I, who have trouble sustaining energy level to complete repetitive tasks, would be greatly partnered with someone who doesn’t suffer from the same deficiency in their Prefrontal Cortex. And if that person lacks performance in their Anterior Cingulate Gyrus and Basal Gangli then partnering with someone like me who can more easily analyze complex issues and develop innovative solutions then our partnership would cover quite a bit of the necessities for success.

To illustrate what I am referring to, let’s look at the development of human civilization those few thousand years ago. Some people were better at hunting and some were better at gathering. Then one of the gatherers probably came to realize that it would be easier to gather if the targeted vegetation could come to them. Thus Agriculture. The same for Animal Husbandry – get the preferred animals into enclosed hunting grounds. But the idea required people to perform the cultivating of fields, the patroling of pastures, the harvesting of both plant and meat victuals for long hours of the day every day. But such a bountiful collection of food would inspire the less innovative nearby tribes to attack and try to steal these resources. But if we get great warriors to protect the crops and livestock then we can stave off the invaders. Great warriors know that the less acreage to protect the easier it is to protect. This led to enclosed communities of farmers, hunters, warriors, and their support staffs. One innovation layering on top of another fleshed out by task after task until today we have cel phones, space exploration, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience.

I propose that the goal of Evolution is to advance mankind into more God-like beings. Monkey men ultimately growing into deities in an undetermined number of millennia. But only if we can continue to grow as a people, continue learn more and more about the Universe, incorporate and layer innovation upon continued innovation to expand our understanding of this wonderful Creation called Nature. (Remember Evolution is part of that Creation.) The better we are able to interact to coalesce our strengths and weaknesses the faster we traverse the risky development of Life. We owe it to each other, to the efforts of our forebears, and the potential of our descendents to find ways to look beyond our individual certainties and realize the collective possibilities by teaming up to create a better world. If this sounds like Communism to you let me assure you that it isn’t. Communism suppresses innovation by rewarding weaknesses in humans. This is a Community of Excellence that rewards strengths.

This process has worked famously for millennia.