Balance and Imbalance in Three-Brained Beings

Gurdjieff constantly emphasized an idea that at first glance seems very strange we are three-brained beings. Yet this idea is central in the development of modern growth psychologies. 

When we think of the brain, we think of that physical organ in our head whose function is to think, to simulate reality. Thinking is a logical process, and we obviously have one thinking brain, so what could a three-brained being be.  

Our mistake is in limiting our idea of thinking to the intellectual kind, especially the verbal kind. There are actually many kinds of thinking, of 

Emotional evaluation. Instinctual evaluation. Aren t emotions something more primitive than logical, intellectual thought, something that often interferes with logical thought. Aren t instincts even more primitive .  

There is an Eastern parable of the horse, carriage, and driver that richly illustrates our nature as three-brained beings and the problems resulting from poor development of each and from imbalance. 

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Chapter 14 Balance and Imbalance in Three-Brained Beings... 

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