Know Thyselves

Health Tech Sep 23, 2026• By KIM BELLARD With all the fuss about A.I. I was pleased to find some studies that illustrate that we don’t even fully understand the human brain yet. The ancient Greeks had a maxim “Know Thyself,” but the current research suggests they should have advised that we should “Know Thyselves.” A new study from Stanford Medicine suggests that our brain is actually two separate organs: “…we postulate the brain is a composite organ emanating from two lineage-restricted progenitors; these dual progenitors may be evolutionarily conserved across 550 million years from hemichordates to mammals.” Say what? Now, let me make this clear: they’re not saying that the brain evolved from two separate organs into the brain we have today; they’re going a step further and saying there are still two separate organs, working together or in parallel. Freud must be feeling vindicated. The press release says: The new research finding shows that the human brain consists of two ancient nervous systems cleverly packaged together — a more primitive part that regulates our hearts’ beating, our breathing and other functions, and another that makes us distinctly human, capable of poetry, m...