I will be general. The reptilian brain is the most ancient of the brains. It has two hemispheres, just like the neocortex, and it may be that they relate functionally to the left and right hemispheres of the neocortex. The reptilian brain consists of the upper part of the spinal cord and the basal ganglia, the diencephalon, and parts of the midbrain--- all of which sits atop the spinal column like a knob in the middle of our heads.

It is thought to represent a fundamental core of the nervous system and derives from a form of mammal-like reptile that once ranged widely over the world but disappeared during the Triassic period having provided the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and mammals. All modern mammals have this reptilian complex, including humans.

At least five human behaviors originate in the reptilian brain. These have been denoted as isopraxic, preservative, re-enactment, tropistic, and deceptive. Without defining them, I shall simply say that in human activities they find expression in:

1- obsessive-compulsive behavior

2- personal day-to-day rituals and superstitious acts

3- slavish conformance to old ways of doing things

4- ceremonial re-enactments

5- obeisance to precedent, as in legal, religious, cultural, and other matters

responding to partial representations (coloration, "strangeness," etc.), whether alive or inanimate and all manner of deception.

Reptiles do not dream, but animals which have evolved from the reptiles (mammals & birds) do dream. Why? Because the reptilian mind is still operating in them and we humans call that mental state "dreaming." There is no "dreamstate" in reptiles because this mentality is their waking state. It is repressed during our waking hours (but still functioning it never sleeps) by chemicals released neocortically then the reptilian is allowed to function during sleep and dream, when the left hemisphere is in turn repressed. But obviously, the reptilian brain is not satisfied being relegated to the "nightwatch" of an inert body. It wants far more than that.

Humans invented rituals and ceremonies, and then, theater. Now where do you suppose those revelations came from? Theater, with its famous theorem of the "suspension of disbelief" (which is simply another way of saying, "Put your left brain to sleep.") is a re-invention of the reptilian mental-state "out-there". And of course, now we have excellent duplication of the reptilian mindset with movies and television, etc. which by some estimates, occupies up to 16-18 hours of our time per day, when you add in sleep-dream time.

A much detailed description of brain function by Mr Davidman can be found here.
http://www.solbaram.org/articles/humind.html

I will be general. The reptilian brain is the most ancient of the brains.

How come fish have brains?

he might be making an analogy here spurious.
the spinal cord and brain stem being the 'reptilian brain'.

he might be making an analogy here spurious.
the spinal cord and brain stem being the 'reptilian brain'.

yeah, it was a popular concept in the 80s with psychologists. Primitive instincts hide in our reptilian brain and that kind of crap.

That is till someone asked a biologist.

The reptilian brain first appeared in fish, nearly 500 million years ago. It continued to develop in amphibians and reached its most advanced stage in humans.

reptilians preceded fish?

Fish exibit certain elements of a reptilian brain. In a sense the human brain contains elements of fish and reptiles. Human aggression is believed to be rooted in the reptilian brain.

Have you ever seen a reptile go on a murderous rampage? Usually it is assumed biological evoltion is out with the bad in with the good.

For example, if a human (tribe of) lived on the frozen tundra they, in due time, would develop fur or some other protective covering/...theoretically.

Simple fact is that reptilian brains and mammalian brains are wired differently.

Simple fact is that reptilian brains and mammalian brains are wired differently. Yeah,but the mammal brain is built unto, and wired from, a basic framework and structure featured in reptiles. So if the more advanced structures and wiring are not fully operational for some reason - - -

This explains why high school administrators and human resources personnel in large corporations often have such thin, compressed lips, and run their tongues over them when they are perusing documents unfavorable to their victims.

Didnt we evolve from dinosaurs?

We evolved from fish.

what did dinosaurs evolve from?

Fish.

What did donkeys evolve from?

Eve?

What about dragons?

http://laweekly.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/v_diana_2_1.jpg


I'll reproduce in full the section on the reptilian brain from the article above:
Reptilian Brain
http://www.solbaram.org/articles/humind.html

Innermost in our brain is what is called the reptilian brain, its oldest and most primitive part. The reptilian brain appears to be largely unchanged by evolution and we share it with all other animals which have a backbone.

This reptilian brain controls body functions required for sustaining life such as breathing and body temperature. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals which are warmed by the daylight sun and conserve energy by restricting activities when it is dark. The biological clock (controller) for their activity-rest cycle is located in the eye itself {10}.

At this level of evolution, behaviour relating to survival of the species, such as sexual behaviour, is instinctive and responses are automatic. Territory is acquired by force and defended. Might is right.
I've highlighted the section that corresponds to my understanding of our reptilian brains - that they're primitive structures that control our most basic functions. Since they're the 'oldest' parts of the brain this makes intuitive sense.

The rest of the opening post, as far as I can gather, is one man's fantasy: imagining things that aren't there. I suspect he's just found out that we have residual reptilian brains and that he now imagines that we've all just crawled out from under some rock.

I fear V will become our future. We are all hybrids of the ape mammals and the aliens that became our rulers, we are doomed, they'll come invade and make us their slaves!

Yeah,but the mammal brain is built unto, and wired from, a basic framework and structure featured in reptiles. So if the more advanced structures and wiring are not fully operational for some reason - - -


No it isn't.

No it isn't.
I would say it's sort of like base memory or machine language where the software applications are the outer extensions.

It's like a metaphor.
The triune brain hypothesis created by Paul Maclean back in the 50's. It's not literal. Or, at least, unproven.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain