Unlike the other 3 brain networks discussed (Default, Reward and Affect) by Waytz and Mason in their HBR article, the Control Network operates at a conscious level. The authors point out that the Control Network is what makes us distinctly human. Unlike animals that operate at purely instinctive levels, we have the capacity to reflect on ourselves, our actions and the world, and to make conscious choices about actions that counter what is instinctively driven at an unconscious level. We can decide whether or not to stay at a job, to pursue a goal, and even to break an unwanted habit.
As a consulting hypnotist, and from the perspective of vast study and practice in the field, the author’s discussion of the Control Network seemed to be least aligned with my experience. They describe the Default Network and the Control Network as “bookends,” because, “they are essentially countervailing forces.” According to the authors, “The more engaged the control network is in distributing resources to achieve goals rooted in the real world, the less engaged the default network is in detaching from the real world and imagining alternatives, and vice versa.”
My experience has taught me that the Control Network (which is commonly called the Executive Function) is indeed the part of mind that sets goals, plans, prioritizes and makes decisions. But, very importantly, the Default Network (i.e., part of the unconscious mind) is the part of mind that follows through on, and executes those goals and decisions. The Default part of mind does not make decisions, but it is THE powerhouse of resources that can offer creative solutions and innovations in response to a decision made by the Control Network. People have far more power than they may have ever imagined when the Default (i.e., unconscious) part of mind is aligned with the Control (i.e., conscious) part of mind.
You may recall that when discussing the Default Network (i.e. part of unconscious mind), I made the point that the conscious mind and the unconscious mind can be guided to work seamlessly together. When the Default Network understands what the Control Network intends to accomplish, it sets about scanning the internal landscape for ideas, opportunities and solutions to meet the goal. And it can do this concurrently with activation of the Control Network. While the Control Network goes about its daily tasks, the Default network can be instructed to work beneath the level of conscious awareness in finding a creative idea or solution. And when it has discovered a response to a question or a solution to a challenge, for example, that answer or solution is delivered up to conscious mind, and voila, you have a Eureka! Experience.
I often describe the conscious mind as the captain of the ship. It is that part of mind that stands on high and calls out instructions through a megaphone to the crew beneath the deck. The crew beneath the deck is the part of mind that simply follows through on the instructions given by the captain, without judgment or veto power.
Hence, the idea presented by Waytz and Mason of the Control Network being tasked with “policing all the brain’s other networks,” and “suppressing” the Default Network simply doesn’t fit with my experience. I believe that the powerful alignment of both the Control Network, operating at a conscious level of mind, and the Default Network, operating at an unconscious level of mind, can work in beautiful, harmonious synergy.