Think for a change

This morning I feel unsettled. Attention is unfocused and the unconscious is bombarding it with inconsequential chit chat.

But ‘I’ notice myself realizing that ‘I’ prefer giving attention to tough questions that deal with existential issues such as the origins of the drive for purpose and meaning.

And there are other tough questions. Would such meta-thoughts be adaptive? Would they have ensured survival within and between groups during our long evolution as hunters and gatherers in the African savannah? And, if so, how?

Aha – my attention has found focus! The mindbrain has settled back into its non-egoic intellectual mode. Time will be set aside to capture and edit the tough stuff that oozes out of the unconscious.

I appreciate, for example, that there is an enormous amount of data entering through my sense organs. The individual bits have to be filtered as positive, neutral or negative. Then reactions or responses to the positive and negative items have to be planned, implemented, monitored and evaluated (PIME). This will be an ongoing and multilayered process that involves matching new inputs against past experiences which are stored in memory either as hard wired patterns or as learned ones.

In the brain this activity is apparent as electrical signals zipping along axons and causing the release of chemical neurotransmitters in increased or decreased amounts. The mindbrain is made of modules that exchange these electrical and chemical signals. (Note: my Zoology degree dissertation was on “The influence of the ganglion on spontaneous behaviour in Ciona Intestinalis.” This involved electrodes and brains!)

The ancient and well established modules in the human hindbrain and midbrain handle the basic physiological stuff while the newer modules in the forebrain deal with the more social and philosophical stuff. The electrical and chemical activity can be scanned and mapped by neuroscientists. The structure and function of the various modules is now becoming clearer - and most of it never enters consciousness.

There is now widespread agreement in scientific circles that the mind and the brain are two sides of the same thing. The mind/matter ‘problem’ has therefore evaporated - in theory at least. There is still a lot of work to be done figuring the details! So, for the moment, I will go back to dealing with the mind side of the mindbrain.

What is the purpose and meaning of life? Different cultures, subcultures and individuals have different answers. A more interesting question, from my point of view, is why the question is asked in the first place?

You’ll find plenty question masters
making quagmires of their brain
The man said “There is no answer.”
They said, “You are insane.” (Clark)

Individual people are conceived, live for a while and then die. The same can be said for social groups, ecosystems and planets.

All living things are aware of, and react to, changes in their environments. But most living things are not aware of being aware. They are trapped in an eternal present where they respond more or less automatically to changes in their external environments. Earthworms don’t philosophise.

But philosophers philosophize. And all philosophers are human. But not all humans are philosophers.

So groups of hunter gatherers would have included a few members who served as philosophers whose evolutionary function was to generate intellectual innovations. Most of these new ideas would have been unaccepted during peaceful times when rocking the boat was discouraged. But some would be adaptive during times of rapid change. There would be natural selection and survival of the fittest.  Note that the fittest is the one that is the most copied in the next generation. Think Memetics.

I have been using the word philosopher as a short cut. The idea is that in any effective human group some members, perhaps most or all members, will be extra-ordinary. There will be division of labour and some individuals will be temperamentally more suited to some of the tasks than others. Getting the mix right would be key to the effectiveness of the group.

So how many types of people are there? Gardner reckons that there are nine intelligences or frames of mind. Belbin reckons that there are nine team types. The Kiersey Temperament Sorter recognises sixteen personality types. More generally there are usually priests, politicians and policemen; academics, journalists and scientists; artists, poets, and novelists; fishermen, farmers and factory workers; to name but a few.

The point is that different people will have different ideas about ultimate purpose and meaning. Most will accept the traditional myths and rarely think about the tough questions while others will obsess about them. This is good. Variety is the key to long term survival of groups and their members.

But there is need for balance in the breadth, depth and speed of change. It appears that most people dislike change; the individual and group mindbrain has a tendency to settle in well established neural pathways. (Parochial and xenophobic ruts?). But the only constant thing is change. So it is good that there is also neural plasticity so that change remains possible. It is never too late to change your mind.

SO – the tough questions are asked to encourage extra-ordinary people to think for a change.

References:

George Clark
http://www.toonloon.bizland.com/highway/track-06.htm

Howard Gardner
http://www.srds.co.uk/begin/frames.htm

Meredith Belbin
http://www.srds.co.uk/cedtraining/handouts/hand40.htm

The Kiersey Temperament Sorter
http://www.keirsey.com/