The Reptile Brain

 

“Anything possible of being believed is an image of truth”—William Blake.

David Icke believes the world has been ruled by reptilian aliens for thousands of years.

A lot of people believe him.

Icke’s claims seem automatically disproven by the fact that he is able to publish his claims and speak them publicly. If there were such a conspiracy of space lizards, they would have silenced him. Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.

But they have to be an image of truth, because so many find them compelling.

What does “reptilian” really mean here?

The most striking thing about reptiles is that they lack concern for their young. They lay their eggs, and wander off. This seems to correspond to the fact that their brains lack the parts that, in the human brain, correspond to our emotions.

“Deep inside the skull of every one of us there is something like a brain of a crocodile. Surrounding the R-complex is the limbic system or mammalian brain, which evolved tens of millions of years ago in ancestors who were mammal but not yet primates. It is a major source of our moods and emotions, of our concern and care for the young. And finally, on the outside, living in uneasy truce with the more primitive brains beneath, is the cerebral cortex; civilization is a product of the cerebral cortex.”

— Carl Sagan, Cosmos

In other words, reptiles seem to operate only on immediate urges. They may be self-aware, but they are not aware of any other “selves” in their universe. Just things they want or do not want. This is the “reptile brain.”

Icke’s vision of reptilian humans rings true because there really are such reptilians: beings in human shape who nevertheless operate only on urges, unaware of any other “selves” in the universe. These are the people we call “narcissists.” The “type B personality disorders,” in psych speak.

Icke seems to understand this. I have not read any of his books, but I see he speaks of love as the antidote to the dominion of the lizards. 

And they do by and large rule the world. When you care for no one but yourself, and recognize no morality, you have a huge tactical advantage. Of course such people will regularly end up on top. Anyone in power should at least be suspected, as Icke does, of being a lizard.

Icke claims that society as we know it is largely designed by these reptilians to generate fear and anxiety. He says this energy is nourishing to the lizard overlords.

This too makes metaphoric sense. The narcissist has an insatiable need to show their superiority, by causing others to cower.

“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”

--George Orwell, 1984

The urge to exert power over others, and have them feel it, explains much of human life and human history.

Not to mention the dysfunctional dynamics of many families.