Common Sense 3.0 – A Reptilian POV     

July 10th, 2025

As a follow-up to one of last year’s posts, “Common Sense 2.0 – A Human Kind POV”, I’d like to offer up a next generation Common Sense view. I have been thinking a lot lately about our reptilian brain. You might know it as that part of our brain that is the most ancient part, associated with basic drives like survival, fear, automatic instincts. Also associated with the 3 ‘F’s – Freeze, Flee or Fight.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been witnessing and experiencing all three of those lately. The state of the world, just glancing at each day’s headlines generates enough fear to have me frozen in limbo. Fleeing to a different country, or staying put and Fighting craziness like we did back in the 60’s? Sure, sometimes that’s where my thoughts go. We did end a war once. It wasn’t easy, lots of division. Pretty scary, but ‘We the people’ did what had to be done.

I’ve also been wondering about a fourth ‘F’. ‘Fix’ it. Probably not as ancient. But it does explain some of the behavior we’re experiencing, I think. MAGA is rooted in it. The left is struggling with its own version of how to Fix all of the broken parts of our society. Even before all of this craziness, most men, when confronted with a women’s emotional pain, often go right to that fourth F. Ignoring the woman’s expressed desire to simply be heard. Understood. Listened to. If you haven’t already viewed “It’s not about the nail”, worth the 2 minutes. Even if you had.

Maybe it’s time we all moved from the old three F’s and Focused (oh, a fifth F!) more on how to best go about Fixing this sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in. Join a local support group?  Get out and demonstrate? March on Washington? We did help end a war once doing just that. Took a lot of marches to make it happen. Not just in DC. But it worked. Or just practice ‘random acts of kindness’. That alone can help change the world.

Let’s not lose hope. We may be a divided nation, but our country is mostly filled with kind, generous, caring individuals. Scared, yes. Needing a Fix. Absolutely! Not sure how to do it? Well, let’s find our own way, and get involved. Focus on how to Fix it, in whatever way works best for you.

Hoping this missive brings you a little peace and harmony,

Peter