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R.A.S. — The Enemy Within (Or Your Greatest Ally)

Before we meet the Reticular Activating System, we need to clear up a popular myth.

When most people think about the brain, they imagine a super-biological computer split cleanly into two personalities:

Left brain — obsessive, analytical, spreadsheet-loving control freak.
Right brain — barefoot, artistic, intuitive, possibly micro-dosing something herbal.

It’s a fun story.

It’s also wildly oversimplified.

I’ve been accused of being analytical.

I’ve also had more than a few experiences that some would call psychic.

Apparently, I’m not supposed to exist.

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The Left/Right Brain Myth

For decades, pop psychology divided us into two camps.

Logical or creative.
Numbers or nuance.
Engineer or poet.

High-profile figures reinforced it. Oprah once described the left brain as linear and by-the-numbers, and the right brain as creative and empathetic — and proudly identified as right-brained.

It makes for great television.

But neuroscience has moved on.

Yes, certain functions show lateralization.

Language processing often leans left.
Spatial processing often leans right.

But both hemispheres are in constant communication through the corpus callosum.

Creativity requires structure.
Analysis requires imagination.
Empathy involves pattern recognition.
Mathematics involves visual-spatial reasoning.

You are not half a brain.

You are an integrated system.

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So Why Does the Myth Persist?

Because it feels true.

When you’re analyzing spreadsheets, you feel different than when you’re painting or composing music.

But that’s not hemispheres fighting.

That’s networks activating.

Different neural networks for different tasks.

The brain is not two personalities.

It is a dynamic orchestra.

And the conductor of that orchestra?

That’s where the R.A.S. enters the story.

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The Reticular Activating System — Your Internal Gatekeeper

Buried deep in the brainstem is a cluster of neurons called the Reticular Activating System.

Tiny.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Its job?

To filter reality.

Every second, your senses collect millions of bits of data.

Light waves.
Sound vibrations.
Temperature shifts.
Internal sensations.
Memories triggered by smell.

If you consciously processed all of it, you would collapse from overload.

So the R.A.S. decides what gets through.

It acts as a gatekeeper.

A spotlight operator.

A biological algorithm.

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Why I Call It “The Enemy Within”

Because if you are not deliberate…

It will run your life on autopilot.

The R.A.S. prioritizes what it believes is important.

And how does it decide what’s important?

Repetition.
Emotion.
Attention.

If you constantly focus on threat, it highlights threat.

If you constantly rehearse lack, it highlights lack.

If you repeatedly complain about bad drivers, suddenly the roads are full of them.

It is not creating reality.

It is filtering it.

And what you filter becomes your lived experience.

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The Real Power

The R.A.S. is not evil.

It is efficient.

But it does not question your programming.

It assumes:

“What you repeatedly attend to must matter.”

So it gives you more of it.

More evidence.
More examples.
More reinforcement.

If you want to change your experience of life, you must retrain the gatekeeper.

Not through affirmations shouted at the mirror.

Through consistent, deliberate attention.

Next, we’ll break down exactly how to reprogram it — and why search engines, goals, and even simple questions you ask yourself can quietly reshape your entire experience.

The “enemy” is not your brain.

It’s unmanaged filtering.

And once you understand that…

You stop being filtered.

You start selecting.

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Stop Choosing Sides

Like Oprah, many people unconsciously pick a side.

“I’m left-brained.”
“I’m right-brained.”
“I’m practical.”
“I’m intuitive.”
“I’m data.”
“I’m spiritual.”

We’re raised to believe we must choose.

Creative or pragmatic.
Artist or accountant.
Scientist or mystic.
Woo-woo or sensible.

Parents subtly frame it:

“Do you want to be a starving artist… or employable?”

So we split ourselves early.

We divide the scientific from the spiritual.
Logic from imagination.
Structure from inspiration.

But the brain doesn’t work that way.

The Research Reality

There is no solid scientific evidence that creativity “lives” in the right hemisphere while logic “lives” in the left.

Both hemispheres are active in creative tasks.

Both hemispheres are active in analytical tasks.

Complex thinking recruits distributed networks across the entire brain.

To label yourself as “left-brained” or “right-brained” is like claiming you are a “left-lung person.”

It’s incomplete.

And limiting.

Integration Is Power

When we view the brain as a whole — and connect it to the heart and gut in the Torso-Wand model — something changes.

Creativity stops competing with logic.

Intuition stops fighting analysis.

Pragmatism stops mocking imagination.

Instead, they collaborate.

Your analytical mind refines your creative ideas.
Your intuition flags subtle risks your spreadsheets miss.
Your emotional intelligence guides timing.
Your logic structures execution.

That’s power.

Division Weakens

When you divide yourself internally, performance suffers.

If you suppress intuition in favor of logic alone, you lose nuance.

If you suppress structure in favor of inspiration alone, you lose implementation.

Divided, the system hesitates.

United, it flows.

The Real Balance

Balance doesn’t mean 50/50.

It means coherence.

All systems communicating.

Head clarity.
Heart alignment.
Gut steadiness.

Creativity informed by structure.
Analysis guided by awareness.

When integrated, your decisions sharpen.

Your confidence rises.

Your execution improves.

The brain does not triumph when split.

It triumphs when unified.

And when unified within the Torso-Wand…

Transformation becomes precise instead of chaotic.

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The Whole Brain Lights Up

Yes, the brain has two hemispheres.

But modern neuroscience is clear:

Both hemispheres participate in logic.
Both hemispheres participate in creativity.
Both hemispheres participate in intuition.

The idea that one side is the “accountant” and the other the “mystic” is a cultural meme, not a scientific conclusion.

Complex experiences recruit complex networks.

And networks span the entire brain.

Spiritual and Artistic States — Not Localized, Distributed

Over the past few decades, neuroimaging has allowed researchers to study what happens in the brain during meditation, prayer, artistic flow, and peak creative states.

What they’ve found is not a glowing “God spot.”

Not a single creativity button.

Instead, they see distributed activation across multiple regions.

Prefrontal areas (associated with attention and decision-making).
Parietal regions (involved in spatial awareness and self-processing).
Limbic structures (emotion and meaning).
Default mode networks (self-referential thinking).

Researchers like Mario Beauregard and others exploring the neuroscience of spiritual experience have observed that these states involve coordinated activity across grey matter and white matter pathways.

Translation?

Spiritual and artistic moments are whole-brain events.

Not Separate From the Practical

Here’s what fascinates me most.

When someone enters a creative or spiritual state, the brain does not shut off pragmatic networks.

It reorganizes them.

Flow states, for example, show changes in how executive control networks interact with emotional and sensory systems.

The same brain that balances a budget can also experience awe.

The same neural architecture that solves equations can write symphonies.

Spiritual awe and spreadsheet competence are not enemies.

They are configurations.

The Big Takeaway

Creativity does not live in one hemisphere.

Spiritual awareness does not bypass logic.

Artistic insight does not exclude analysis.

They are all expressions of integrated neural networks operating in different modes.

When you stop splitting yourself into categories…

You stop limiting what your brain can do.

The Torso-Wand thrives on integration.

And when your system is integrated…

Practicality becomes inspired.

And inspiration becomes executable.

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The Enemy Within: Reticular Activating System (RAS)

The RAS is so vital to this journey that it deserves its own headline.

In bold.

Because if you understand this system, you understand why your life looks the way it does.

And how to change it.

The Blank Slate (Almost)

In Three Simple Steps I wrote:

The moment we are born is the purest in our entire lives. We have seen, felt, and heard nothing. Therefore, we have nothing to contemplate or to react to.

That’s poetic.

Biologically, of course, newborns already have reflexes, temperaments, and primitive wiring.

But in terms of belief systems?

We are astonishingly open.

No political views.
No money stories.
No self-doubt.
No identity narratives.

Unlimited interpretive potential.

And then — within seconds — the world begins.

A bright light.
Cold air.
Gravity.
A loud smack to stimulate breathing.

Startle.

Shock.

Sound.

The nervous system fires.

The first pattern begins.

The Absorbing Mind

A newborn’s brain is not built for filtering.

It is built for absorption.

Like a paper towel dropped into a puddle.

Everything soaks in.

Tone of voice.
Facial expressions.
Stress levels.
Cultural cues.
Unspoken tension.

The infant nervous system does not evaluate.

It encodes.

This is not weakness.

It is survival design.

The Rapid Programming Years

Early childhood is a period of extraordinary neural growth.

By age five, the brain has formed an enormous percentage of its adult synaptic structure.

By adolescence, massive pruning occurs — unused connections weaken, frequently used ones strengthen.

Does personality freeze at five?

No.

But foundational patterns are laid down early.

Core beliefs about:

Safety.
Belonging.
Worth.
Money.
Authority.
Love.

These become baseline filters.

And filters shape perception.

Where the RAS Enters

The Reticular Activating System sits deep in the brainstem.

Its job is to filter incoming sensory data.

It decides:

What gets attention.
What gets ignored.
What feels urgent.
What fades into background noise.

As children, our RAS is trained by repetition and emotional intensity.

If we grow up in tension, it prioritizes threat.

If we grow up in encouragement, it prioritizes opportunity.

It does not judge.

It optimizes.

And by the time we reach adulthood, much of our filtering system is running automatically.

Conformity Without Noticing

We think we are independent thinkers.

But most of us are operating through early-installed filters.

Family worldview.
School narratives.
Cultural norms.
Media reinforcement.

We gradually conform to the interpretive system we were fed.

Not because we are weak.

Because the RAS is efficient.

It builds a model of reality early — and then protects it.

The Enemy — or the Ally

If you never examine your filters, the RAS becomes the “enemy within.”

It keeps feeding you evidence that confirms old beliefs.

It highlights data that supports your identity story.

It blocks information that contradicts it.

But if you consciously retrain it…

It becomes your greatest ally.

Because once you deliberately choose what matters…

The RAS goes to work.

And it works tirelessly.

This is where transformation stops being mystical.

And becomes neurological.

Next, we’ll explore exactly how to retrain the gatekeeper.

And why the questions you ask yourself may be the most powerful programming tool you possess.

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This Is Not for Sleepwalkers

Everything we’ve discussed so far only remains theoretical if you choose to sleepwalk.

It does not apply to you.

Because you’re here.

And presence changes wiring.

New knowledge alters neural networks.

New tools create new pathways.

Repeated application strengthens them.

And when the brain rewires, personality shifts naturally.

Not because you force it.

Because structure changes.

As you move through this journey — and long after it — your interpretations evolve.

Your reactions soften.

Your confidence stabilizes.

You become a slightly different configuration of the same fundamental particles.

Iteration by iteration.

And people will notice.

Family.
Friends.
Authority figures.

Sometimes they’ll celebrate it.

Sometimes they’ll resist it.

Because when you change, the system around you must recalibrate.

Awakening the Infant Mind

In many ways, what you’re doing here is reawakening the part of you that went quiet around early childhood.

Not becoming childish.

Becoming curious again.

Becoming receptive again.

Before the heavy filtering set in.

Before the identity armor hardened.

Infants may look helpless — blinking, feeding, crying, sleeping.

But their brains are extraordinary.

Research in developmental cognition shows that babies are not blank slates in the way we once imagined.

Studies measuring infant gaze — such as those conducted in developmental cognition labs like the one at the University of Missouri — suggest that infants possess early expectations about how the physical world behaves.

Researchers sometimes call this “intuitive physics.”

For example, infants appear surprised when objects behave in ways that violate basic physical expectations — like passing through solid barriers or disappearing without cause.

They haven’t been formally taught physics.

Yet they carry rudimentary predictive frameworks.

Born Predicting

One researcher summarized it this way:

Infants seem equipped with the ability to form expectations — and they use those expectations to predict what will happen next.

That’s extraordinary.

Prediction.

Expectation.

Anticipation.

The same mechanisms you are now consciously refining.

As we grow, these early intuitive frameworks are refined, layered with culture, reinforced with repetition.

Some become brilliant tools.

Some become limiting beliefs.

Transformation is not installing something alien.

It is refining what was already there.

Intuition Reclaimed

When you retrain your RAS, sharpen awareness, and consciously practice attention…

You are reclaiming intuitive intelligence.

Not mystical superstition.

Predictive processing.

Pattern recognition.

Embodied awareness.

You are becoming deliberate about what was once automatic.

And that is the difference between drifting and directing.

Between reacting and creating.

Between sleepwalking and awakening.

The infant didn’t disappear.

It just got buried under filters.

Now you are learning how to lift them.

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How We Become Like Everyone Around Us

As infants grow, something predictable happens.

They begin to mirror.

Parents.
Teachers.
Friends.
Television idols.
Sports heroes.

They absorb values.
They mimic reactions.
They adopt preferences.

They are attracted to what their tribe praises.
They are repulsed by what their tribe rejects.

Over time, they seek experiences that reinforce those shared beliefs.

Not consciously.

Automatically.

And this is where the Reticular Activating System comes in.

The Reticular Activating System (RAS)

The RAS is a network of neurons located in the brainstem.

It is not unique to humans — it exists in all mammals and many other animals — because filtering reality is a survival function.

Its job?

To regulate arousal, attention, and the flow of sensory information to higher brain centers.

It connects the brainstem — which manages automatic functions like breathing and reflexes — to the cerebral cortex, where conscious thought occurs.

Think of it as the gatekeeper between raw data and awareness.

The Inhibitory System

Psychologist Jerome Bruner once wrote:

“The human mind has an inhibitory system which routinely and automatically removes from perception, reason, and judgement over 99% of available fact.”

That’s not poetic exaggeration.

It’s neurological necessity.

At any given moment, your senses are flooded with massive amounts of data.

Light waves.
Sound frequencies.
Temperature gradients.
Pressure shifts.
Internal bodily signals.

If all of it reached conscious awareness, you would be paralyzed.

So the RAS filters.

It decides what gets passed upward for conscious processing.

Without it, you couldn’t function.

The “147 Bits” Reality

You’ve probably heard claims like:

“We receive 2 million bits of information per second but can consciously process only around 100–150 bits.”

The exact numbers vary depending on the study and how “bit” is defined.

But the principle is solid:

We consciously process only a tiny fraction of available sensory input.

The overwhelming majority is filtered out.

Not because it doesn’t exist.

Because it’s deemed irrelevant.

The Conundrum

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The RAS filters based on:

Repetition.
Emotional charge.
Beliefs.
Perceived importance.

If you believe the world is hostile, it highlights hostility.

If you believe opportunity is everywhere, it highlights opportunity.

If you value art, you see art.

If you value data, you see data.

The RAS doesn’t judge.

It prioritizes.

And that’s the conundrum.

You are blissfully unaware of almost everything around you.

You experience a curated slice.

And you assume it is reality.

A Personal Example

When Jess came into my life, she rewired me without trying.

As a writer and illustrator, her RAS is tuned to notice art.

Mine was tuned to notice science.

Patterns.
Mechanisms.
Cause and effect.

We could walk the same street.

She would point out color in a window display.

Texture in a tree trunk.

Geometry in sidewalk cracks.

I had walked those paths a thousand times.

I hadn’t seen any of it.

It wasn’t invisible.

It was filtered out.

Because I had unconsciously programmed my RAS to devalue it.

Now?

I see it.

And once you see something repeatedly, you begin to appreciate it.

Not because the world changed.

Because your filter did.

The Enemy Within

The RAS is not evil.

But it will trap you in loops.

If your 147 conscious bits are filled with:

Reality TV drama.
Outrage media.
Endless complaint.
Violent gaming.

Then that becomes your reinforced reality.

Your world feels like what you repeatedly consume.

Through life, your learned beliefs train your RAS to filter out anything that contradicts them.

That’s efficient.

And dangerous.

Because it means growth requires discomfort.

New data.

Contradictory information.

Deliberate reprogramming.

The Exciting and Scary Part

The exciting part?

You can retrain the filter.

The scary part?

It requires discipline.

You must repeatedly expose yourself to new patterns.

New inputs.

New interpretations.

Changing the RAS is not done through a single insight.

It is done through consistent practice.

But once it shifts…

Your world shifts.

Not because the universe rearranged itself.

Because you are finally seeing more of it.

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Why You Suddenly See It Everywhere

The RAS is why you learn a new word…

…and then hear it three times the same day.

It’s why you can sit in a café full of noise and tune out every conversation — yet instantly snap to attention when someone says your name.

It’s why you watch a new car commercial, feel a flicker of emotion…

…and then start seeing that car everywhere.

They weren’t parachuted in overnight.

Your filter changed.

The world didn’t increase.

Your awareness did.

And it happened without you noticing.

Belief Is a Filter

The RAS doesn’t just filter sensory input.

It filters according to:

• Your beliefs
• Your fears
• Your expectations
• Your repeated emotional reactions

It quietly protects your worldview.

If something contradicts your philosophical, religious, or political beliefs, it is less likely to make it through to conscious attention.

Not because you’re stupid.

Because your brain values coherence over disruption.

This explains why we repeat behaviors — even painful ones.

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

“A person convinced against her will is of the same opinion still.”

Now we understand why.

Unless someone actively seeks alternative input, the loop continues.

The Loop

The RAS helps create repetitive patterns of:

Thoughts.
Behaviors.
Experiences.

If you feel empowered, it will highlight evidence of empowerment.

If you feel oppressed, it will highlight evidence of oppression.

It is not moral.

It is mechanical.

It reinforces what you repeatedly focus on and emotionally energize.

Changing the Channel

So how do you change your world?

You change:

• What you consistently focus on
• How you emotionally respond
• What inputs you repeatedly expose yourself to

Bit by bit.

Repetition by repetition.

You can retrain your RAS to prioritize different patterns.

And when the filter changes…

Your experienced reality shifts.

Not because the universe rearranged itself.

Because your perceptual gatekeeper recalibrated.

A Real-World Example

I have a dear friend who spent her career working in environments where she saw the darkest aspects of human behavior — violence, abuse, exploitation.

Her RAS adapted accordingly.

She experiences the world as dangerous.

She double-locks doors.

She mistrusts tradespeople.

She assumes negative intent until proven otherwise.

And even then, suspicion lingers.

Those who pass her internal screening become fiercely loyal friends.

But her day-to-day life reflects her filter.

Deliveries go wrong.

Repairs fall apart.

Neighbors are inconsiderate.

Trips derail.

I joke that she walks under her own private rain cloud.

She jokes back:

“Everything you touch turns to gold. Everything I touch goes pear-shaped.”

The truth?

We are both living in “real” worlds.

Our RAS doesn’t care which one.

It simply reinforces the loop.

I know which one I prefer.

Attention and Arousal

Neuroscience also shows that the reticular formation plays a key role in:

Alertness.
Wakefulness.
Heightened focus.

When you enter states of deep attention, certain brainstem networks increase activation and modulate cortical activity.

This is why deliberate focus changes your state.

You can train yourself into heightened awareness.

Which means you can widen the slice of reality you consciously engage with.

Maybe not literally from 147 bits to 10,000 — but perceptually, dramatically.

Habituation: What We Stop Noticing

The RAS also learns patterns.

It habituates.

If a stimulus repeats and carries no perceived importance, it fades from awareness.

That’s why you can sleep through traffic noise.

But wake instantly at a baby’s cry.

Or a gunshot.

It’s why bad news headlines grab you — high emotional salience.

And why balanced voices often get ignored — low emotional charge.

It’s also why some people gravitate toward workplace complainers.

The nervous system becomes tuned to that frequency.

The Big Realization

Your RAS is not your enemy.

But if left untrained, it becomes your autopilot.

And autopilot repeats history.

Training it requires:

Deliberate focus.
Emotional discipline.
Conscious exposure to new inputs.

When you shift what you repeatedly observe…

You begin to experience a different version of the same world.

Same planet.

Different filter.

And that changes everything.

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The Robotic Drift

Because of the RAS, it’s easy to lose your sense of individualism early.

Childhood programs fast.

Then adulthood repeats.

And in modern life, with so much automated for us, the drift into “robot mode” can happen without anyone noticing.

You’ve seen it.

A family in a restaurant, each person staring at a screen, paying more attention to strangers online than the humans they came in with.

A sunny day in a park, people scrolling, gaming, filming, posting… while ignoring the actual park.

They look like extras in a zombie film.

Not because they are bad people.

Because they are filtered people.

And they are not at fault.

They should never be judged.

They are simply humans whose RAS is making choices for them… because no one ever explained the loop.

Honestly, I can’t imagine a single person refusing to change if they truly understood this.

So now you do.

Which means you have responsibility.

And you have power.

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Time to Give Your RAS New Instructions

How do you tell your RAS to change?

First: understand this.

Awareness of the loop is 80% of the job done.

Once you see the filter, you stop being owned by it.

Then comes the remaining 20%.

Reprogramming.

Deliberately.

Consistently.

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Reprogramming Is Exposure

Your RAS learns by:

Repetition.
Emotion.
Attention.
Relevance.

So start feeding it what you want.

If you want a bigger life, expose yourself to bigger life signals.

Not as escapism.

As programming.

• Subscribe to publications that reflect the lifestyle you’re creating.
• Visit high-end art exhibitions if beauty and refinement matter to you.
• Join entrepreneur groups if freedom and wealth matter to you.
• Search the web for private jet experiences, world-class hotels, extraordinary travel — not gossip and outrage.
• Walk into the dealership and test-drive your dream car.
• Don’t just “want” a new reality — show your RAS what it looks like.

This is not about showing off.

It’s about updating the filter.

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Don’t Delay

Because the loop is relentless.

If you don’t program it, something else will.

News cycles.
Algorithms.
Complaining coworkers.
Fear-based marketing.
Default habits.

Your life will be shaped anyway.

The only question is: by you, or by default?

So don’t delay.

Your life is at stake.

Not dramatically.

Directionally.

Start now.

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