Sundays with the Enneagram

 

The “Three Centres of Intelligence” Myth 

 

Part 1: No Such Thing as Three Brains

 

 

The Enneagram’s “three centres”, head, heart, and gut, are often presented as a timeless insight into human nature, mapping neatly onto thinking, feeling, and instinct.

This idea echoes ancient philosophy, going back at least to Plato’s tripartite soul (reason, spirit, appetite), and was later revived in modern times. 

 

In the 1960s, neuroscientist Paul MacLean popularized the “triune brain” model, describing a reptilian brain stem (instinct), mammalian limbic system (emotion), and rational neocortex layered on top, a compelling story that shaped pop psychology for decades.

 

But that model is now widely discredited in neuroscience. 

 

Leading researchers like Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose work in affective science (including How Emotions Are Made) synthesizes decades of evidence, show the brain isn’t divided into isolated “centres.” It’s a single, integrated prediction engine where cortical, subcortical, and ancient regions collaborate in real time for every thought, feeling, and action. 

 

Emotions don’t sit in a separate “heart” zone, instincts don’t fire only from the “gut,” and reason doesn’t rule from a lofty neocortex. Everything interweaves dynamically.

 

Labelling Enneagram types as “head,” “heart,” or “gut” centres borrows this outdated framework, creating a false map of the mind that doesn’t match how brains actually work.