Denial is a phenomena where one refuses to acknowledge that their version of the world is inconsistent with reality.I’ve often felt that some people are in denial, and I’m certain many folks have felt I was in denial about numerous things. As a behavior, denial has always intrigued me, and reading “Phantoms in the brain” brought a lot of clarity to me.
OBSERVATIONS OF DENIAL
Dr. Ramachandran describes experiments he conducted on patients who’s right side of the brain had suffered a stroke, resulting in paralysis of the left side of the body. Some of these patients showed acute symptoms of denial.
A lady who’s left arm was paralyzed claimed she could touch the doctor’s nose with her left hand. When asked about the motionless hand that lay on her left side, she would say that’s her brother’s arm. In another incident, a woman with who’s left arm was paralyzed claimed she could lift a table higher with her left arm than with her right arm. In one incident, a man with his left side of the body paralyzed accepted under pressure that he was misleading the doctor, but soon went back to his original view that his left arm was as strong as his right arm. In yet another observation, a perfectly intelligent man with a terminal brain tumor in a right side of the brain refused to acknowledge it entirely & labeled his physician as a malicious liar while focussing exclusively on a tiny sore on his face, asking that he be treated for this.
According to the author, these patients were perfectly intelligent. In fact, after 2 to 4 weeks, they started accepting that their left side was paralyzed. Interestingly, they believed that they were telling the truth about this paralysis all this while (also seen as revisionism for many of us). For the author, these patients were a great microcosm to understand the brain, as the symptoms of denial in them were very strong, and on very short time scales (think minutes to go from one belief system to another).
OUR BRAIN’S BELIEF SYSTEM
According to the book (rather, my understanding of the book), the left side of the brain observes the world, and takes in various stimuli. It then folds these actions into a world view or a belief system that already exists. For example, if I get my wife flowers, her left side of the brain will observe this and fold this action into a belief system that I love her, or that she deserves flowers, or whatever beliefs she holds. The left side of the brain is often considered “conservative” because it wants to fold every observation into the existing belief system.
The belief system itself is created & maintained by the right side of the brain. The right side of the brain decides whether the observation of the world & subsequent folding into the belief system, is consistent with its belief system. If it is not, the right side of the brain alters & at times, destroys the existing belief system and builds a new one that is consistent with the observations. In doing so, this part often checks the left side of the brain pushing back on inconsistencies. As a result, this part of the brain is called the “revolutionary” because it wants to throw away the prevalent belief system.
This belief system is important because it allows humans to act with some level of rationale & predictability. Absent of such a belief system, we would be rudderless as we won’t have any basis for action. However, if the belief system is not open to being destroyed & reconstructed based on observations, we will go mad because our observations of the world would be entirely inconsistent with the reality, & as a result, our actions based in our imagination.
In denial patients that the author describes, the part of the brain that destroys and rebuilds the belief system stops functioning for extended periods of time.
UNDERSTANDING DENIAL
As with these patients, many of us live in some state of denial at all times, and are generally unaware of it. This becomes easier to accept once we realize that our body image is part of this belief system. The extent of denial depends on how capable we are of destroying our belief system & rebuilding it based on new observations.
The manners in which denial manifests itself is interesting too. As Freud explained (though without any experiments & attributed to nonsense basis), it ranges from outright denial, to reaction formation (where we overcorrect for our inconsistent belief system like the woman who believed her paralyzed arm was stronger than her good arm) to projection (where we focus our action on something external to avoid the anxiety related with destroying the belief system). While we don’t fully understand the neurological basis for this, we have empirical observations that corroborate this.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?
Accepting that denial is a perfectly normal state of existence is the first step. Many of us unaware that it even exists. For example, a founder might not see that he or she is almost out of money, instead projecting that the business will turn around. Optimism for some, but a state of denial for others. See this tweetstorm from Sam Altman for instance, where he describes this state of mind.
In my view, to deal with this, we must always be open to, & keep, challenging our belief system. When we see something that doesn’t reconcile with our belief system, instead of blocking it out, or distorting it, it is important that we take time to develop other plausible belief systems deliberately where such an observation would be rational, and then seek alternative steps forward in terms of our actions. It is very likely that those other belief systems are delusional, but it is also entirely likely that our existing belief system is delusional.
The word we use today to describe this ability to ponder over our belief system is called “reflection”. A quality that allows us to reflect is “humility”. The character trait that gets in the way of “reflection” is over-confidence. Ongoing reflection allows us to build a belief system that is consistent with reality, though it requires constant & painful introspection. However, it allows us to act with greater predictability, and form a more representative world view
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