By all accounts, Elliot was a very successful and brilliant lawyer. One day he went to the doctor and they found something unusual. He had a tumor on the front of his brain. So, the surgeons operated. It appeared the operation was successful.
However, after the surgery, Elliot had a complete personality change. He lost the ability to do simple tasks. Organization became nearly impossible. His motivation and drive seemed to disappear. Ordinary life was no longer ordinary for Elliot.
This once high functioning lawyer could no longer do his job. He was let go by his law firm. Then he lost his house and his wife. Elliot could no longer navigate his way through the world.
Elliot eventually went to a specialist for help – Dr. Damasio. The doctor tested his intelligence, but Elliot scored just fine. Dr. Damasio was puzzled. When Demasio asked Elliot a simple question, that was not on any test, he began to really figure out what had happened to Elliot. At the end of their meeting, he asked Elliot, “when do you want to schedule your next appointment?” This question revealed the true problem.
Elliot could remember his schedule for several weeks without any problems. He could logically state why one hour would work better than another. However, he could not make up his mind. Elliot could not make a decision.
Demasio realized the Elliot had no feelings about the decision. It turned out that when Elliot had the tumor removed, the surgeon accidentally cut the connection between his prefrontal cortex and his amygdala. Connections between emotional and rational parts of his brain were severed. Consequently, these broken circuits prevented Elliot from making basic decisions necessary to operate in the world. Elliot no longer had wisdom.
Your brain uses both emotion and reason when making a decision. When you remove one of these ingredients from the recipe, you are lost. How much time have you spent on working on the emotional part of the equation? Having a hard time deciding?