Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
If we transfer this knowledge to improving risk management, we
must realize that the main task will be to influence (condition and pro-
gram) the nonconscious processes in our being. Directing the conscious
part of our brain to act safely will definitely help, but the main effect
can be achieved by changing our nonconscious behavior. So if a new
safety policy is introduced, for instance, this policy will be addressed to
the conscious part of our brain. All communication will be focused on
understanding and accepting this policy. Usually the project of chang-
ing a policy stops as soon as the message has been understood and
accepted. That is unfortunately no guarantee that the message will be
incorporated into our nonconscious patterns. The next time we have to
perform, we still tend to use the old behavioral patterns that are stored
in our nonconscious systems. To improve safety management, we need
to do more than distribute and explain policies. In Chapters 6 and 7,
we will go deeper into this.
Feeding our conscious system with a new safety regulation is no guaran-
tee that the nonconscious will incorporate this into its behavior.
In the case of driving a car, if you have lived in the same area for a
long time and are familiar with a certain road on which you are allowed
to drive 45 miles (70 kilometers) an hour, you will have a hard time
adjusting to a reduced speed limit of 30 miles (50 kilometers) an hour. If
you are driving with your nonconscious, you will have a tendency to
stick to the old pattern and to drive at the previously allowed speed.
2.7 COMBINING THE TOPIC OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE
THREE PARTS OF THE BRAIN
It is really difficult to gain conscious access to activities in the basic
brain, which is mostly active in the realm of the nonconscious. Fakirs
(Hindu ascetics) claim that they can access conscious control of basic
brain functions (for example, lowering the heart rate by exercising
breath control) with a lot of training. We can only experience some
results with these basic functions (for example, by experiencing
hunches or gut feelings). When experiencing a gut feeling, the emo-
tional brain serves as a translator of some cues in our basic system.
We can have more access to our emotional brain, although this part
of our system also functions mostly on a nonconscious level. In most
