Dr. Meagher, an Emergency Room Physician, drawing on his own and colleagues' experiences, researches the nature of error. He demonstrates that these mistakes are often due to several overlapping factors, rooted in the instinctual responses from the "old" part of our brains - those that seem to have developed first. This is what is called the reptilian brain. By recognizing the effect of this "reptilian brain" on our actions and most importantly, our mistakes, we can take steps (The NewMind Response ) to curb the reptilian responses, making each of us more effective, empathetic and less error prone.