Realizations Inc

ÓArlene R. Taylor PhD     Realizations Inc

The word adaption is a brain-function term that describes the ability of your brain to develop skills and change in a way that permits you to fit into a new or specific situation. It describes behaviors that involve the development and use of skills that don’t match your own innate giftedness or energy advantage. (Refer to Procrastination below.)

Some adaption is desirable. It increases your options and gives you more opportunities to accomplish more activities. There is a big difference, however, between temporary adaption (desirable) and prolonged or excessive adaption (undesirable); between what your brain has learned to do well and what it does energy efficiently. It appears to be very wide spread and this can be especially true in regions where primarily only one or two divisions are rewarded or valued and when differing divisions are rewarded based on gender.

As Michael Levine put it, Nothing is as stressful as trying to be a different person from whom you are.

The concept of adaption represents the quintessential different strokes for different folks. Activities that constitute adaption in one individual can represent giftedness in another. Activities that energize one person can exhaust another. When an individual is born with a pattern that is generally rewarded by or approved of by society for their gender they tend not to adapt. Rather they are more likely to identify with, develop, and use their innate giftedness the majority of the time.

In the United States, especially in the WASP cultures, there are very clear rewards and expectations for performance based on gender and brain function. For example:

·         Males tend to be rewarded for and expected to evidence competence in the Left Frontal Division first, and secondly for a double left hemisphere pattern

·         Females tend to be rewarded for and expected to evidence competence in the Right Posterior Lobes first, and secondly for a double Posterior-Lobes pattern

Consequently, a female with a brain lead in one of the frontal cerebral divisions and a male with a brain lead in one of the right hemisphere divisions are the most likely to adapt—especially if they are Extraverted and are able to do so.

Following are examples of tasks that could represent either temporary (desirable) adaption or prolonged (undesirable) adaption based on an individual’s own innate giftedness.

	Left Frontal Lobe	Right Frontal Lobe
Offer a listening ear – typically accomplished most energy-efficiently by a brain with a lead in the Right Posterior Lobes.   On the other hand, to open a family-counseling office or become a grief-recovery counselor would likely represent undesirable adaption.		Learn to balance the checkbook - typically accomplished most energy-efficiently by a brain with a lead in the Left Posterior Lobes   On the other hand, to take a full time job as an accountant or bookkeeper would likely represent undesirable adaption.
	Left Posterior Lobes	Right Posterior Lobes
Write a short article for the newspaper - typically accomplished most energy-efficiently by a brain with a lead in the Right Frontal Lobe.   ·         On the other hand, to try to earn a living writing short stories or scripts for a stand-up comic would likely represent undesirable adaption (and that brain might be unsuccessful in earning a living wage).   Note: A Brain with a lead in the Left Frontal Lobe might write an article if it involves an “analysis” of something.   A brain with a lead in the Right Posterior Lobes might write an article if it involved a “story” about people or animals involving emotions and feelings.		Develop a financial budget - typically accomplished most energy-efficiently by a brain with a lead in the Left Frontal Lobe.   On the other hand, to take a job as a chief financial officer would likely represent undesirable adaption (and that brain might be unsuccessful over time in maintaining employment in that arena).   Note: Adhering to and maintaining the budget after it is developed may be accomplished most energy-efficiently by a brain with a lead in the Left Posterior Lobes

Procrastination

What types of activities do you tend to procrastinate? Procrastination can be a symptom of the brain attempting to avoid adaption. The brain knows the way in which it works most energy efficiently, even when you have not yet identified that consciously, and it will try to push you away from activities that require excessive expenditures of energy.

The key to success involves your ability to manage judiciously the amount of time you spend doing activities that require functions outside your innate giftedness, because those functions tend to consume significantly larger amounts of energy. A desirable overall goal is to match the majority of your activities in life (e.g., at least 51%) with what your brain does energy efficiently. Achieving this goal requires awareness, knowledge, choice, commitment, and willpower. It also requires being able to manage who you are innately in the face of expectations of others who believe they know what is best for your brain.

Falsification of Type

Falsification of Type is a term that refers to a specific type of excessive or prolonged adaption. Coined by Carl Jung, the term describes an individual who has developed a non-natural pattern of habitually using cerebral divisions other than the one containing the person’s innate brain lead. Jung observed that people tended to be interested and energetic when “leading” with their brain’s division of energy-efficiency. Conversely, when they tried to lead with one of the other three divisions, they experienced fatigue, frustration, and ultimately exhaustion. Jung believed that Falsification of Type represented a serious and potentially life-threatening problem with both practical and psychological ramifications.

Until fairly recently there have been no assessments or technology to help identify and measure Falsification of Type. Now there are. For example:

·         The BTSA (Benziger Thinking Styles Assessment), designed to help an individual identify the presence or absence of Falsification of Type in the person’s life. This tool can help to assist people in identifying their brain’s innate energy advantage or brain lead.

·         PET Scans (Positron Emission Tomography), the brain-imaging technology used by Dr. Richard Haier, a research physician, to measure energy expenditures in a person’s brain (e.g., glucose usage) in relationship to the type of activities the brain was asked to perform.

These and other modalities are validating Jung’s perceptions that there is a huge cost to an individual (mentally, physically, emotionally, relationally, and perhaps spiritually) when the person is not living authentically—when the majority of their activities in life are not aligned with what the person’s brain does energy-effectively.

Note: Jung reportedly believed that one’s position on the Extraversion-Ambiversion-Introversion Continuum was even more basic than brain lead. As such, people who are working and/or living in environments that do not match their innate position on the EAI Continuum are being forced to adapt. This may be a factor or co-factor in the person adapting in other areas of life including performing activities on a regular basis that are not aligned with innate brain lead.

Monetary Metaphor

Since it is possible to develop skills through practice, why not aim for equal skills in all four cerebral divisions? Because prolonged or excessive adaption can exact a huge price. Remember, you pay for everything in some way or another. The cost may be recognized immediately or only become apparent somewhere down the line. And you pay primarily in energy (as energy is the basic medium of exchange in life). Metaphorically, the differences in energy expenditure appear to be as great as pennies on the dollar.

Sandwiching

Sandwiching refers to inserting an activity that is energy-exhausting for your brain, but which must be accomplished, between two other activities that are energy-efficient for your brain. The non-preferred activity may still require 100 times the energy-expenditure but since it is book ended by activities that are energy efficient it ‘doesn’t seem so bad.’

Remember, you do have a whole brain—it’s just that you want to manage the amount of time you spend completing activities that are outside your brain lead. The current formula for thriving is to match 51% of your life’s activities with what your brain does energy-efficiently (and if you can get more than 51%, so much the better). That leaves, however, about 49% of your life’s activities that you can divide up any way you want.

Be conscious about those non-preferred activities. Try to do them when you have more energy available. Remind yourself that you are choosing to complete the activity as part of a total life-activities package even though it may not be one of your favorites. Do some brain breathing before you begin the task to energize your brain. Make jokes about the activity and try to laugh and have fun with it. When possible request help from others if you are really getting bogged down.

Thriving means flourishing

Thriving is as advanced beyond surviving as the ocean is removed from the tiny prairie pond. In order to thrive you need to be in an environment that promotes your ability to be who you are innately, and you need to develop, use, and be rewarded for using skills that match your innate giftedness. Your goal is to spend the majority of your time in activities that are energy efficient and easy for your brain to complete.

It has been said that stressors generally interact with the brain in a predictable ratio. Sometimes referred to as the 20:80 Rule, this rule states: 

·         20% of the adverse effects to the brain and body is due to the stressor itself

·         80% of the adverse effects is related to one’s own perception of the stressor and the weight or personal value ascribed to it

It is possible that the adverse affects on the brain and body resulting from life situations that lead to PASS symptoms may exceed the typical 20% (Refer to Prolonged Adaption Stress Syndrome). This seems likely given that this form of stress involves not only external and environmental triggers, but also the rate at which the brain itself must work, and the amount of energy that must be expended in order to accomplish the desired tasks. Therefore, this mismatch between one’s innate giftedness and the way in which one is living life can be a serious and potentially life-threatening stressor. Over time, prolonged adaption may contribute to an increased risk of self-medicating (altering your own brain chemistry) through addictive behaviors (refer to Addictive Behaviors for additional information).

Awareness is the first step on the continuum of positive change. You now have some tools to help you identify who you are innately, honor your individual uniqueness, and match the majority of your life’s activities to your innate giftedness. Recognizing the high cost of prolonged adaption can motivate you to initiate an exciting journey into personal growth. No longer need you live a quiet life of desperation. You can identify and follow your own path, the one that is right for your brain, and thrive!

The famous lines from Hamlet may be as profound today as in Shakespeare’s time:

To thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day,

 thou canst not then be false to anyone.