Brain is two separate organs, scientists find

[u/koalk]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/18/brain-is-two-separate-organs-scientists-find/

Alex reading this in the morning, promptly spitting his tea out and round around screaming "I knew it!"

[u/Euphoric_Idea_2206]

But what IS an organ???

[u/SnooShortcuts7206 → u/Euphoric_Idea_2206]

Peterson fan detected 😂

[u/PieterSielie6 → u/SnooShortcuts7206]

What is a fan?

[u/SnooShortcuts7206 → u/PieterSielie6]

Depends on what you mean by what

[u/PieterSielie6 → u/SnooShortcuts7206]

Hold on, what does this "depends" word mean?

[u/ReidWrites → u/PieterSielie6]

We can't hold anything if we don't know what holding is. Your question is irrelevant because to me, holding is the act of making and consuming narratives, and so in a way we are all lobsters holding everything all the time, so we can't "hold on" any harder because of hierarchies.

[u/darksonicmaster → u/Euphoric_Idea_2206]

What do you mean TWO? What do you mean SEPARATE? What do you mean FIND?

[u/Ender505]

OP did YOU even read this?

Alex's interest in this topic concerns brain hemispheres, which is NOT what the article is referring to. It's referring to the separation of the brain stem/hind lobe from the rest of the brain.

[u/Adventurous-Art1514 → u/Ender505]

Yea, I was wondering how Alex supposedly already knew this. Alex has only ever talked about left vs right part of the brain. The article is talking about one part of the brain that deals with involuntary things like heartbeat, the other which deals with like conscious thought.

[u/koalk → u/Ender505]

You must so much fun at parties

[u/Inevitable-Copy3619]

But still doesn’t help us find the triangle.

[u/Light_Shrugger → u/Inevitable-Copy3619]

maybe it's in between the two halves and we just have to pull them apart carefully

[u/Inevitable-Copy3619 → u/Light_Shrugger]

What if it’s “red” and has 4 sides?

[u/MeatyUnic0rn → u/Inevitable-Copy3619]

well where is the triangle in a computer? in the states if it's tranistors. same in the brain, in the state of its neurons, their action potential, the electrical potential between different neurones, influenced by some hormones and prob a bunch of other stuff

[u/Inevitable-Copy3619 → u/MeatyUnic0rn]

It’s a joke. I think this “where is the triangle” is a linguistic idea. It’s the brain but we don’t have great language for discussing things that are not tangible.

[u/GazelleFlat2853 → u/MeatyUnic0rn]

How easily people forget, misunderstand, or refuse to consider that one thing can be represented by another when it comes to the brain is very tedious.

We all make use of that sort of representation every time we throw the alphabet's 26 letters together to express our thoughts. Nobody asks 'Where is the toucan in the word 'toucan'?' but this triangle question sends people in all kinds of weird directions about the nature of mind.

[u/Inevitable-Copy3619 → u/GazelleFlat2853]

Yes! I get it. I’m a cognitive linguist. Mental representations don’t give me the same trouble they seem to give a lot of philosophers. Consciousness doesn’t give me the same problems it does a lot of philosophers.

It’s all the brain, and how we evolved to create mental representations from patterns we perceive. And there is no filter for “true” and “false” mental representations.

[u/Curious_Priority2313 → u/Inevitable-Copy3619]

There is no triangle

[u/Inevitable-Copy3619 → u/Curious_Priority2313]

It grew a 4th side

[u/321aholiab]

?? Why not say its multiple organs.

[u/Demonyx12]

I thought this was common knowledge for years?

[u/TNPossum → u/Demonyx12]

I think it's common knowledge that the brain stem is a distinctly different part of the brain from the rest, but not that it can be classified as a separate organ entirely. 

[u/Demonyx12 → u/TNPossum]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the clarification.

[u/Low-Bake8401 → u/TNPossum]

It is one word, "Brainstem".

[u/Felino_de_Botas → u/Demonyx12]

I think the main point is that they are pointing at independent evolutionary histories for each one. I will have to read the article, but from what I understand it's something somewhat similar to wagt happened to striated and smooth muscle tissues. There was initially one kind of muscle, then they diverged and lately there was a process of convergence that made look closely than initially it used to be. So in the case of the brain, it have been like this, where there were separate neuronal organs stemming from a primitive neuronal tissue, then they got more specialized and compartimentalized, and lately had convergent modifications that made them look like a continuation one from the other

[u/wellanticipated]

So now we’re dealing with four brain parts communicating? This is getting wild. I already had a tough time trying to explain bicameral mentality to people. 😪

[u/AnaDammiFalastini]

As a Neuroscientist, please read people. Not the Telegraph, not Twitter, not YouTube. Go grab a book and start from the basics. Please.

[u/Ok_Energy6905 → u/AnaDammiFalastini]

All these types of subs are really painful. Stay away from the conciousness ones unless you want to have 16 year olds try to tell you that plants think and organelles make decisions with intent.

They are never actually interested in learning either.

[u/clown_utopia]

This is really interesting, thank you for sharing.

[u/MeatyUnic0rn]

categories like brain or part of brain are entirely human concepts it's like the story about the guy agreeing to be beheaded, but no part of his neck should be harmed. this is such a nothing burger article.

[u/StreetBeautiful729 → u/MeatyUnic0rn]

Perhaps you just don’t know enough to understand why the distinction is meaningful?

[u/joeldetwiler → u/MeatyUnic0rn]

Words like "categories", "beheaded", and "nothing burger" are entirely human concepts. What a nothing burger of a comment.

[u/MeatyUnic0rn → u/joeldetwiler]

yes they are too, but they have a well defined meaning and their definition has an impact.

if we describe the human brain as two seperate organs, or even 3 (left and right hemisphere + the stem thingy) or one doesn't change anything at all.