synaptic churn

People understand ‘reality’ by making mental models based on what they already know. Thus, for example, our heavenly father ensures that the sun moves around the flat earth.

Early models were simple in terms of the number of causes and effects. For example man sees lion approaching (stimulus), brings up earlier example from memory and reacts (response) by climbing a tree. There will be about four nerve cells involved in carrying messages between about three modules in the brain.

BUT that is seriously over simple. Natural selection has no forward plans and neither does it have stand alone, rigid modules. There are billions if not trillions of connections between nerve cells to act as causes, and a similar number of effects.

The mind does not hold steady in discrete processes and events. It is better to think of ongoing networks and webs. Any given synapse hosts a multitude of globules which simultaneously act as stimulant or inhibitor in many processes or events.

An everlasting synaptic churn.

headspace

I like this web site
Cute graphics and Andy has a soothing voice

https://www.headspace.com
/

selfish time

‘I’ am aware of a feeling that time has been wasted. The topic could be explored and expanded by using the journalists’ six questions -

·        What? – a feeling about wasted time

·        When? -  it floats in and out of awareness

·        Where? – in the mindbrain

·        Who?  - the conscious and the unconscious selfs.

·        Why? – because of being aware of changes in the external and internal environments.

·        How? – either of the two selves focus awareness on the topic

BUT - Why that particular topic at this thought moment? (Note – Thoughts are mind made and are linked to feelings and moods. (TFM)). 

The unconscious dredges up ‘eternal verities’ more or less related to the topic. Sometimes the linkages are not clear. Here for example are some wise sayings from the natal sub culture that have come to mind.

• ·        Al’ age disnae come its sel.
• ·        Respect your elders and betters.
• ·        Little children should be seen but not heard.
• ·        Neither a lender nor a borrower be.
• ·        Never let the sun set on your wrath.
• ·        it’ll a be the same in a hunner ears time.
• ·        When the good lord made time he made plenty o’t
• ·        Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
• ·        The devil finds work for idle hands.

SO - the mindbrain churns out TFM in a continuous stream in response to changes in the internal or external environments.

There is a large collection of written words that have been generated by ’me’ over the last 50 years. Many of them are now embarrassing and therefore contribute to mild stress. This might be viewed as therapeutic and as a source of motivation to creative thinking about the behaviour of the two selfs in the sub-cultural milieu.

Conscious	Unconscious
self	Self
Linear TFM	Parallel TFM
Enantiodromia
Yin/yang

Enantiodromia - the tendency of things to change into their opposites, especially as a supposed governing principle of natural cycles and of psychological development. From Greek, literally ‘running in opposite ways’ (Ref Heraclitus, Plato, Jung and from Eastern cultures – especially Taoism)

BUT this story does not make much sense. There is too much self and Self. It is thus egoic. And thus, in this case, a waste of time. 

SO is interaction with the concept of ‘waste of time’ a waste of time?

Nature, nurture and serendipity factors interacted to create the patterns of knowledge, feelings and moods which categorise the ‘reality’ in the mindbrain which ‘I’ think of as being ‘mine’.

 

And the ‘reality’ is not a constant thing. It is an output from ongoing subconscious churn and it rarely lasts for  more than a few seconds or minutes.

Flowing on the blue highway

I spent many years reading, writing, sitting, and being mindful. This was sometimes in a group of like-minded souls, but mainly on retreat by myself. The outcome can be summed up briefly as “the cure for the blues is to change your mind as you move along the never-ending highway.”

The highway is your route through life and it is never-ending because it has no beginnings or ends because the only certainty is doubt and the only constant thing is change. Nothing comes from nothing. The only prime factor is the big bang which is the ancestor of all that came after.

The unconscious is constantly churning out interpretations of recent sensory inputs which means that you change your mind on an ongoing basis. I might like it if outputs were in a static photo album but what I get is more like a dynamic youtube auto play collection where there is an ongoing stream of almost coherent audio/visual materials with adverts in the mix. 

SO – “reality” is what is in your mindbrain (in the attention centre?) on a particular thought moment and these race past following a logic that is rarely shared with the conscious part of the mindbrain. Thus I can appreciate the Taoist view that “The reality that can be described is not the real reality”. I can also sympathise with those who feel that the mind has a mind of its own: and that the unknown part – the unconscious – accounts for at least 99% of mental activity.

SO – it is not that YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND but rather that THE UNCONSCIOUS CHANGES BY REACTING TO THE STIMULI IT RECEIVES.

BUT – either way – a cure for the blues can be achieved by the fact of mind change in a particular way. 

The mindbrain exists to create mental models of life, the universe and everything. When working well these models evoke a sense of well-being and peace of mind through ensuring the supply of Maslow’s pyramid of six needs: Physiological needs (food clothing and shelter), Safety needs, Social belonging, Esteem, Self-actualisation, Self-transcendence. Note that the lower needs have to be met before the higher ones become operative. 

Most cultures, even modern ones, have a creation myth which relies heavily on magic thinking (eg Jesus Christ turns water into wine). There is now a wide range of scientific disciplines approaching the topic. These include: anthropological, archaeological, mythological, historical, theological, psychological and neurological, 

Feelings of melancholy, sadness, or depression arise when the myths and magic no longer cast their spell – you suffer from cognitive dissonance. The thesaurus captures the feelings and moods: · unhappiness · melancholy · misery · sorrow · gloominess · gloom · dejection · downheartedness · despondency · dispiritedness · low spirits · heavy-heartedness · glumness · moroseness · dismalness · despair · the doldrums · the dumps.  The first of the Buddha’s four noble truths is that “In life there is suffering.Yes.

SO - we should not expect things to stand still – especially thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM)

The “blues” take over when things do not go according to plan 

SO-  don’t make plans: we had best be like evolution and go with the flow as it moves along the never-ending highway.