The Human Brain: A Reaction Paper

John Christian F. Iglesia

As we all know, the brain controls every aspect of our lives. What we know about
ourselves, the environment around us, and the actions we do are not only rooted from the
information we acquire from our bodies, but how the mind processes it. It shows how our brain
is just as integral as our heart and lungs.
In this reaction paper, I have learned more about the brain through an hour-long
documentary, and I must say that I have learned a lot about how the brain functions. The video
presentation discusses the different areas of the brain and their respective physiologies by
putting them into different real-life situations for viewers to further understand their function in
their daily lives, which I think is a great approach in terms of learning about the human brain, as
it gives the viewers an explanation as to why their body reacts or adapts to a certain stimuli, or
why they think in certain ways.
Allow me to share three points that I have learned after watching the documentary. The
first point is my thoughts on how soldiers are trained to be the best in the battlefield. As a
person who obviously has no experience being in the army, nor do I have connections with
anyone who was in the army, I am amazed with the fact that in terms of training soldiers to fight
fearlessly, there is more to setting their minds of working hard in the spirit of patriotism and
nationalism. There is actually a neurological approach to fortify them to fight fearlessly, and it
also involves channeling their fight or flight responses. Knowing that the amygdala is the central
command center for emotional reactions, soldiers are trained in a way that their amygdala is
channeled for them to react immediately and strongly when encountering adverse situations,
especially on the battlefield.
Another point that I would like to ponder on would be how people, particularly criminals,
are evil. As Christians, of course, we know that the primary nature of humanity is sinfulness.
However, sometimes I end up pondering why particular people such as criminals are a lot more
evil, and after watching this documentary, I am astonished with the fact that there is more to
those people experiencing trauma in their lives. The documentary explains that the brains of
psychopaths are structured differently than most people in a way that their amygdalas are small.
Being aware that the amygdala is responsible for our emotions, it is an explanation as to why
psychopaths are unbothered with being evil, as they do not have much to feel about the crimes
they commit.
The last point that I would like to ponder on is how the documentary explains how people
with special needs have structurally different brains, which explains that their disabilities
somehow have less of a hindrance in their lives. Moreover, this can actually cause them to have
special abilities. For instance, the documentary shows an old man who, despite having
Alzheimer's, is still able to read, write, talk, or even play the piano. This is because different
memories can be stored in different parts of the brain. In the case of autistic people, they pay so
much attention to detail and eventually develop photographic memory. Learning about this
through the documentary was relatable for me, being a person with Asperger’s Syndrome. I
have come to think that in some way, my condition has become an advantage for me, especially
as a student since in my different subjects, I am memorizing a lot of terms.
As I end this reaction paper, I have realized that God has marvelously and intricately
crafted our brains in a way that He equipped it by grace. We can see it as He had crafted
different areas of the brain for different functions so that as we face this sinful world, our minds
and bodies know how to conquer. Although the mind can end up corrupted, given the nature of
humanity, by instilling the knowledge of God’s Word in our brains, we can discern between right
and wrong, and be victorious against the wiles of sin in this world.