You took James for granted. Actually, he was not very well known. But, recently, with a new view of the mind, James became an important member of the cast. In this view, the mind was like a lightning streak, racing through many neural regions, surging through from input to output, within just 20 milliseconds. It saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. In the blink of eye. According to The Intuitive Algorithm, (IA), a new book, this lightning response of the mind was powered by intuition, a pattern recognition process. Myriad processes converted light, sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve impulses. A special region recognized those impulses as objects and events. The limbic system, another region, interpreted those events to generate emotions. A fourth region responded to those emotions with actions. The mind perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. So, the scream followed the eerie shadow, in a fraction of a second.

Action was the response to an emotion. If fear was generated, the action sought safety. A deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. The frenzied escape of the animals were managed by James, the invisible chauffeur, a subconscious intelligence. Consider the challenges before James. Escape was hardly possible by heading into the predator. Below conscious levels, James remembered, evaluated and instantly chose the best of multiple escape routes to increase distance from danger. Even the safety of the underside of a rock was an option. James even managed many components of your actions. He responded instantly, when you responded to emotions, such as sorrow, or humor. James managed the racking sobs of sorrow, or the relaxing movements of a belly laugh.

For IA, the wisdom and folly of of the mind were powered by nerve cells, which remembered and recognized. Millions of years of neural memories powered that streak of lighting. Science suggested participation by the supplementary motor area, the premotor area and the basal ganglia in the subconscious processes, managed by James. His wisdom enabled animals to survive. James helped them to forage, feed and reproduce. He even guided birds to build nests, selecting secure locations and suitable materials. James even placed limits on your will. Normally, while alone in your room, your will could raise your hand. But, at other times, James ignored your will and your hand remained frozen in place. He did that if you wished to raise your hand, say, when sitting in a theater. Because that was not proper. The wisdom of James had decided the issue, faster than you could think.

While James often overruled you, it was nice to know that he was a powerful ally in life. James searched your memory, when you sat down to write a shopping list. He delivered the list, so you could jot it down. Those subconscious searches were creative. Konrad Lorenz described a chimpanzee in a room, which contained a banana suspended from the ceiling just out of reach, and a box elsewhere. After much visible restlessness, the animal suddenly brightened, and joyfully moved the box below the banana, climbed up and reached for it. That breakthrough idea was not generated by an act of will by the chimp. It was James, who discovered the solution. "No man watching him could doubt the existence of a genuine 'Aha' experience in anthropoid apes." Lorenz wrote. That creative experience resulted from the search of context by James.

But, often, those investigations by James created tensions. The chimp was restless. Such creative restlessness was not limited to animals. It also burdened professionals. Mathen had retired as director of a major medical college and hospital, where he had gracefully managed its myriad problems. He noted that, when he rose from bed the morning after retirement, he felt as if a heavy burden had lifted off his shoulders. Subconscious drives, which sought solutions to a barrage of issues, had become inhibited. There was a sense of freedom. The halt of the search processes, managed by James, had lifted the intense burdens of responsibility.

Those search processes also created inner conflicts. That was because James responded differently to the diverse emotions generated by life's problems. Anger chose conflict. Affection chose compromise. And, fear preferred retreat. Independent emotions competed for control in the subconscious. Since intuition was an elimination process, each emotion remained isolated. Anger had no amicable memories. Fear could see no hope. Each emotion held a partisan view, varying in strength as evidence built up. Each instant, the most powerful emotion ruled. Others were inhibited, remaining beneath awareness. But, they continued their hidden search processes.

James never burdened you with those searches. When he was so efficient, where did you come in? With all those competing emotions, which was the real you? Were you the angry one, or the fearful one? Neither, by a long shot. The real you was the one who recognized, without interpretations. When you consciously searched, your view was neither good nor bad. Like an animal, which sensed danger and sniffed the air to investigate. A consciously willed search stilled the mind. For survival in a perilous world, nature demanded answers, free of emotional interpretations. An inquiring mind was the most open. There dwelt the superior consciousness. The most powerful intelligence in nature. The inquisitive you. That was the real you. Not those wavering emotional responses.

A conscious search empowered the real you. Where an issue concerned you, you could write a list of all your related thoughts. James assisted you by bringing all those subconscious drives to your list. The process emptied your mind of many disturbing views. The writing process made all those partisan drives aware of multiple viewpoints. Anger saw the positive side. Fear saw hope. Exposed and organized, disparate concerns became common. The creative forces of the mind converged. Anger and fear, love and altruism cooperated in a subconscious search for a solution to meet your primary concerns. An integrated mind was the most creative force in the world. You could then lean back and let James take you there.