How Instinct, Emotion, and Logic Shape Your Business and Life
Have you ever wondered why you chose that particular coffee shop this morning, or why a client decided to sign with your competitor despite your better service and customer service? It’s not always about the facts and figures. Our lives and businesses are built on a foundation of decisions; our past decisions created our current life or business, and current decisions shape our future life and business. But why do we really make those decisions? In this post, we’ll dive into the three core levels of the human decision-making system: instinct, subconscious influences from past experiences, and logic. We’ll explore why, despite our best intentions, we’re still creatures of emotion and ego rather than rational thinkers. Drawing from neuroscience and practical business insights, we’ll uncover how understanding these layers can transform how you influence your own decisions and those of your customers. This aligns perfectly with the concept of “the other half of business”, the part of the business that shapes our lives and our business, yet we cannot see it.
Let’s start with a simple truth: every decision you make today will show its results tomorrow. Whether it’s hiring a new team member, launching a product, or even choosing what to eat for lunch, these choices accumulate to define your success. But to master them, we need to peel back the layers of how our brains actually work.
The Three Levels of Decision-Making: A Neuroscience Perspective
Human decision-making isn’t a straightforward process; it’s a complex process and systems of evolutionary wiring. Neuroscientist Paul MacLean’s triune brain model provides a useful framework, dividing the brain into three evolutionary layers: the reptilian brain (instinct), the limbic system (emotions and subconscious), and the neocortex (logic). While this model has been critiqued as overly simplistic, it remains a powerful metaphor for understanding why we decide the way we do.
Level 1: Instinct – The Primal Drive
At the base level, our decisions are caused by instinct, hardwired into our genes for survival. This is the “reptilian brain” in action, quick, automatic responses that prioritize basics like food, safety, attention, beauty, social comparison, and status. Think about it: why do we crave sugary snacks during stress? It’s not logic; it’s an evolution that pushes us to get quick energy sources that we need in the stress time.
In business, this manifests in other ways. Customers might instinctively choose a brand that signals status, like opting for a luxury car not for its specs, but for how it elevates their social position. Or consider how safety instincts kick in during uncertain economic times, people try to choose “reliable” products, even if they’re overpriced. These instincts are universal, transcending culture because they’re engraved in our DNA. Ignoring them means missing why a client hesitates on a deal that “feels” risky, despite solid data.
Level 2: Subconscious Influences – The Echo of Past Experiences
Moving up, the second level draws from our subconscious mind, shaped by past experiences, stories we’ve heard, and ingrained beliefs. This is the domain of the limbic system, where emotions, feelings, and prejudices sitted there. Unlike pure instinct, this layer is learned. It’s the voice whispering, “Remember when that similar investment went wrong?” or “This reminds me of that trustworthy mentor from years ago.”
Our subconscious processes vast amounts of information without us realizing it. In fact, research shows that 95% of cognitive processes, including decision-making, occur subconsciously. This includes biases from childhood, media influences, or even overheard conversations. For instance, if a customer grew up hearing that “cheap” equals “unreliable,” they might subconsciously reject your budget-friendly offer, no matter how logical it looks like.
In personal life, this explains why we repeat patterns, like staying in unfulfilling jobs, because past failures make change feel threatening. Ego plays a huge role here too; we compare ourselves to others subconsciously, driving decisions to “keep up” rather than what’s truly best.
Level 3: Logic – The Illusion of Control
Finally, we reach logic, handled by the neocortex, the “thinking brain” responsible for analysis, planning, and rational thought. This is where we believe most decisions happen: weighing pros and cons, crunching numbers, and making “informed” choices. We all like to think we’re logical beings, but reality tells a different story.
While logic is crucial, it helps us build strategies and avoid obvious pitfalls; it’s often the last layer to activate. By the time we apply reason, instinct, and subconscious have already done their job, and our perceptions are affected. Studies show that only about 30% of decisions are based on rational factors, with 70% driven by emotions. This gap explains why perfectly logical arguments fail to convince people; they make their decisions in a much deeper layer that they themselves may not even know.
The Myth of Pure Logic: We’re Creatures of Emotion and Ego
Despite our self-image as rational decision-makers, humans are wired for emotion. Neuroscience confirms that emotions drive up to 95% of purchasing decisions, often overriding logic. We justify choices with facts afterward, but the initial cause and reasons for our decisions are mostly feelings-based. Think of impulse buys: that gadget you “needed” because it promises joy, not necessity.
Ego and prejudgment amplify this. We decide based on how something makes us feel about ourselves, superior, secure, or admired. In business, this means clients choose vendors who make them feel understood and valued, not just the cheapest option. Prejudgments from past experiences create filters; a bad encounter with one salesperson can subconsciously make or break an entire brand.
This emotional dominance aligns with the concept of “the other half of business.” While one half is metrics, KPIs, and spreadsheets, the other is psychology, the human elements like trust, storytelling, and connection. Ignoring it leads to missed opportunities. For example, Gallup’s research shows that emotional factors account for 65-70% of customer engagement variance. Brands that tap into this, like Apple with its focus on innovation and status, thrive by appealing to ego and emotion over pure technical and logic.
Making It Practical: Hooks to Influence Decisions
So, how do we apply this in real life and business? First, recognize the layers in your own decisions. When facing a choice, pause: Is this instinct (fear of loss)? Subconscious bias (past experiences)? Or true logic? Journaling can uncover patterns, helping you make more balanced calls.
For influencing others, like patients, clients, or customers, craft strategies that address all levels:
- Hook the Instinct: Use visuals and messaging that show and talk about safety, beauty, or status. For instance, in marketing, highlight “proven reliability” to soothe safety instincts, or showcase testimonials to tap into comparison-driven social proof.
- Engage the Subconscious: Storytelling is key here. Share narratives that resonate with past experiences, building emotional connections. Avoid dry facts; instead, ask, “Remember when you felt overlooked by a service? We ensure that never happens.” This bypasses logic to hit feelings directly.
- Support with Logic: Once emotions are engaged, back it up with data. Provide stats, case studies, or guarantees to satisfy the rational mind. But remember, logic seals the deal, emotions open the door.
In sales, this means shifting from feature dumps to empathy-driven pitches. A study found that 86% of consumers’ buying choices are shaped by an average of ten emotional needs. Identify those needs, belonging, achievement, and security, and include them all in your calculation.
Practical hooks to try:
- The Curiosity Hook: Start conversations with questions like, “What if one decision could double your business growth?” This is from subconscious interest.
- The Scarcity Hook: Leverage instinct by noting limited availability to trigger the fear of missing out.
- The Emotional Story Hook: Share a client success story that mirrors their pain points, building subconscious rapport.
Integrate these into your content, emails, or pitches. For your website, add calls-to-action (CTAs) that blend emotion and logic, like “Join thousands who’ve transformed their decisions, start your free trial today.”
Embracing the Full Spectrum for Future Success
In the end, our businesses and lives are results of our past and present decisions. By understanding the three levels, instant, subconscious, and logic, we see why pure reason and logic are not enough to run a business. We’re emotional beings, driven by genes, experiences, feelings, and ego. The concept of “other half of business” is to study what we cannot see but has huge effects on our buisness like emotion, subconscious mind, ego, and things that we cannot see with our physical eyes.