cognitive behavior, expressing personality, making decisions, and moderating social behavior. It is the great conductor of the orchestra of the mind. It takes what it receives from the rest of the brain and decides how to act, react, and differentiate between dissonant thoughts. Distrust, on the other hand, is processed in the amygdala. This primitive area influences both left and right hemispheres of the brain, and responds to important, or seemingly important, environmental stimuli. For example, in dangerous situations, the amygdala kicks into action and encourages our fight-or-flight response. “If the amygdala perceives a correspondence between the record of experiences in the hippocampus and incoming information, and judges that the stimulus warrants a fight, flight, or freeze response, then it will trigger the hypothalamic—pituitary— adrenal (HPA) axis and ‘hijack’ the prefrontal cortex (PFC), partly in the form of blood flow being redirected from the PFC to the limbic system.” 6 The amygdala is the “first responder” of our brain and is in control of our “early warning system” when a quick protective reaction is needed. What do we learn from this exploration of how the brain works? Simply, we decide to trust, and we feel distrust. One of the technologies that can help us understand and feel confident (and less confused!) about how we experience trust and distrust is a system for measuring. In Chapter 3, we dive into the three containers we use to measure trust. Identifying each and knowing why we measure with this framework reduces confusion and helps us identify how to develop trust in each container.
Trust Me
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