Podcast Summary: The Observable Unknown
Host: Dr. Juan Carlos Rey
Episode: Mailbag Episode 2 – “The Comparator and the Calling”
Date: October 17, 2025

Episode Overview

In this introspective mailbag episode, Dr. Juan Carlos Rey explores a listener's question at the intersection of neuroscience, intuition, and faith. Through poetic analysis and scientific grounding, Dr. Rey unpacks the comparator model of the mind and meditates on how unconscious decision-making blurs thresholds between analytical thought and mystical trust. The conversation deftly weaves cognitive science, spiritual wisdom, and personal anecdotes, offering both practical insights and philosophical reflections.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Comparator Model Explained

• Definition: The comparator model posits that the brain continually matches its intended actions with the actual outcome, operating as an "internal auditor."
• Purpose: It brings awareness to agency—our sense of authorship over our actions.

“The comparator model, one of neuroscience’s more elegant hypotheses, suggests that the brain is constantly comparing what it intended with what actually occurred. It’s a feedback loop, a silent conversation between prediction and perception, intention and outcome.”
— Dr. Rey [02:12]

• Example: When reaching for a cup of tea, the brain’s simulation predicts the movement—a match affirms control and agency, a mismatch breeds alienation ([03:10]).

2. Intuition & Faith: The Comparator’s Limits

• The Threshold: Moments of intuition (action without conscious reasoning) and faith (acting without evidence) are highlighted as points where the comparator “trembles;” science cedes space to mystery.
• Feedforward Confidence: Referenced from neuroscience, this is when the nervous system commits to behavior absent full information.

“Faith begins where the comparator fails, when outcomes cannot be predicted, when the inner model dissolves into the fog of uncertainty... Yet something in us acts anyway. Neuroscientists call this feedforward confidence; mystics have always called it trust.”
— Dr. Rey [04:24]

• Historical Examples:
  • Teresa of Avila acting on faith.
  • Harriet Tubman following intuition (dreams) in perilous situations.

3. Intuition as Embodied Wisdom

• Study Highlight: Gerd Gigerenzer’s 2012 study on “fast and frugal heuristics” found intuition often outperforms analytical reasoning in high-stakes situations.
• Interpretation: Intuition isn’t irrational, but “post rational”—rooted in deep, tacit knowledge.

“A jazz musician improvising, a firefighter recognizing danger before smoke appears, a medium discerning presence before words. These are examples of the comparator being outrun by recognition. The body remembers what the mind cannot necessarily articulate.”
— Dr. Rey [07:20]

4. Science & Spirituality in Conversation

• Faith and Prediction: Faith acts as if the unseen were real; the comparator predicts as if the unseen were imminent. Both are languages of expectancy.
• Vertical vs. Horizontal: Spiritual faith is framed as vertical (soul-divine dialogue), comparator as horizontal (mind-world dialogue), united in seeking coherence amid chaos.

“That’s what unites the monk and the mathematician, the prophet and the physicist. Each is betting their life on the unseen pattern holding.”
— Dr. Rey [08:40]

5. Breakdown, Dissolution, and the Border of Mysticism

• Psychiatry vs. Mysticism:
  • Breakdown (e.g., schizophrenia): Internal predictions fail, leading to dissociation—"the neural form of exile."
  • Breakthrough (e.g., mystical experience): Surrender of agency (fana in Sufi tradition), where action is attributed to a greater force or oneness.
  • Integration is key; return to coherence determines transcendence vs. pathology.

“Perhaps transcendence and psychosis share a border. The difference lies in integration—whether we return to coherence with more compassion than we had before.”
— Dr. Rey [10:44]

6. The Body as a Liturgical Instrument

• Everyday Prayer: Dr. Rey likens the nervous system’s anticipatory acts to constant prayer or liturgy—a continuous experiment in trust.
• Intuition as Ancient Intelligence: Suggests intuition predates language and rationality, connecting us to an ancient, preverbal knowing.

“Each heartbeat, each breath, each flicker of anticipation is an act of communion between what we hope and what is... What we call intuition may be the oldest kind of intelligence, the one that moves before language, before measurement, before even self-awareness knew its name.”
— Dr. Rey [13:07]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the interplay of science and spirit:

  • “You’re asking me how the body prays. And perhaps the answer is: It prays constantly.” [12:01]

• On the unity of the seeker and the scientist:

  • “That’s what unites the monk and the mathematician, the prophet and the physicist. Each is betting their life on the unseen pattern holding.” [08:40]

• On intuition and faith:

  • “If the comparator measures difference, perhaps faith measures belonging, the place where all predictions rest.” [15:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00-02:12]: Introduction and listener question—laying the themes of neuroscience, faith, and intuition.
• [02:13-05:15]: The comparator model unpacked—neuroscience’s answer to agency and prediction.
• [05:16-08:39]: Points where intuition and faith override conscious reasoning; examples from history and psychology.
• [08:40-10:44]: Cohesion, expectancy, and the unification of rational and mystical outlooks.
• [10:45-12:00]: Breakdown of agency versus mystical transcendence; the importance of integration.
• [12:01-15:00]: Everyday sacredness, the nervous system as prayer, and the legacy of intuition.

Conclusion

Dr. Rey eloquently bridges neuroscience and spirituality, illustrating how the comparator model illuminates both routine agency and transcendent faith. Through metaphor, historical reference, and their trademark meditative tone, listeners are guided to see intuition and trust as deeply embodied, scientifically legitimate, and spiritually significant. The episode reassures that both the scientific and spiritual questers are united by a faith in order underlying apparent chaos—“the observable unknown.”

If this summary resonated, consider listening or submitting your own questions to continue pioneering the rich dialogue between science and spirit.