“Monkey brain”

Tuesday, 23 June 2026 – 3:30 pm (Sydney)

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO!

Dear Noah, when we are studying during our designated “Academic nights” or when we are doing your homework, what does papa always say? “HELP YOUR BRAIN!”

Our human brains as of the year 2026 have greatly evolved. It even gets more capabilities through the advances in technology such as the assistance of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

However, our brains are still partially in the form of the “Monkey brain”. There are situations when the brain persists to act on instincts that may not necessarily serve specific purposes. For example, when we go for a run or any similar strenuous exercise, the brain is wired for us to stop when we get tired. That is the monkey brain acting on instinct on the need for rest. The monkey brain is wired to conserve energy for the human body. The monkey brain acts on the instinct of survival for the immediate moment. The monkey brain has not fully evolved to prioritise long term goals versus the immediate rewards. The monkey brain is stuck to the era of human evolution when there were considerable risks of predators and there was scarcity of resources such as food. The monkey brain acts on instincts based on an outdated social environment. It prioritises immediate rewards such as resting when we are exercising.

Another example of the monkey brain can easily be demonstrated by the phrase: “Monkey See, Monkey Do!”. For example, you have a goal of having a healthy diet. Whenever you are presented with cookies, ice cream, cakes and other sugary sweet treats, the monkey brain immediately wants to eat them! The monkey brain may consider sugar as an energy source, and it also prioritises immediate reward. You literally have to spend some will power should you want to avoid eating the cookies, cake or ice cream. By simply putting those sweets in front of your eyes to see, the monkey brain in you wants to eat (do) them!

The wonderful thing about this “Monkey brain” is that it works based on logic. Therefore, we can use logic to control it too! For example, if you want to have a healthy diet and you constantly see people around you eating healthy foods, the monkey brain sees healthy foods and that’s exactly what it wants to eat (do) too! If you live in a neighbourhood where most people run for exercise, your monkey brain would somehow start thinking of starting to run for exercise too, or at least it would question why are you not running too?

The previous examples utilise ENVIRONMENT MODELLING to control the monkey brain. If “Monkey See, Monkey Do”, then be very specific as to what does your monkey brain constantly see. DESIGN YOUR ENVIRONMENT!

Another way to control the monkey brain is to simply help it by putting in front of it the things that needs to be thought of. If we have problems, we can help our monkey brain process it better but writing them down. Remember, Monkey see, Monkey Do. Let the Monkey see the details of the problem!

Dear Noah, when we do the section of “Problem Solving” in your homework, what do we do first? We write the given! We write the “givens” of the problem so our brains can “see” the details. From there, the monkey brain starts to formulate patterns or solutions that will lead us to the answer.

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO — so be very intentional about what you let the monkey see! Use this to your advantage!