A

Mercy Strategy 63

Coming back to the amygdala. There are in fact two of these almond-
shaped centers,A one buried within each of the two temporal lobes.
Neurological literature generally does not distinguish between them, but
rather treats emotional processing as a single entity.
This seemingly insignificant point was actually responsible for a major
breakthrough in our research. Initially we thought, like most others, that
feelings were synonymous with Mercy processing, and that emotions and
experiences always went together. So, it made sense when we read that the
right temporal lobe—the storage location for Mercy experiences—
contained an amygdala—the emotional processor.
But, why was there also an amygdala within the left temporal lobe?
Logically speaking, if the right amygdala was responsible for Mercy
emotions, then the left amygdala must be adding feelings to Teacher
thought. This reasoning led us to examine the traits of the Teacher person
for emotional content. To our surprise, we discovered that Teacher thought
did operate with feelings—Teacher feelings. What are these Teacher
feelings? We will answer that question when we describe Teacher
thought.B
In summary, I suggest that Mercy thought contains three components:
First, the memories of Mercy automatic thought are stored in the right
temporal lobe. Second, the Mercy internal world is located in the right
orbitofrontal cortex. Third, Mercy processing is done by the right
amygdala. Or, in the words of one researcher, “the close anatomical
relations between the orbital cortex and temporal lobe structures, the
amygdala in particular, suggest that those temporal lobe structures,
together with the orbital cortex, form a neural complex essential for the
appraisal of the motivational significance of objects, for emotional
expression, and for social bonding.” 7

A Amygdala is Latin for almond-shaped.

B The logical necessity for a connection between the verbal thinking of the

left temporal lobe and the feelings of the left amygdala seems rather
obvious, and yet I have not found it mentioned anywhere in the
neurological literature. There may be a psychological reason for this
oversight. Scientific research tries to remain objective and to avoid
emotions. Therefore, it would shy away from the idea that the theories of
science themselves generate an emotional response.