The mindbrain’s backroom

You own a state of the art sports car but you never shift it out of first gear. You rarely move the accelerator pedal more than a fraction of a millimetre. You rarely take it out of the garage. The sports car is your mindbrain. A vast potential is not being realised.

The sensory input to the brain is changing every fraction of a second. Visual stimuli reach the retina; auditory stimuli reach the cochlea; and so with the other senses. Different sensory cells are activated by different aspects of the stimuli and the interactions are encoded as nerve impulses which are transmitted to particular modules in the brain. The modules decode the signals, filter out the noise, compare the new inputs with memories, and judge whether to advance towards, retreat from, or ignore the source of the stimulus.

Actions are monitored and evaluated and the results are transferred from short term to long term memory. You will have learned from experience.

Few people have problems making sense of their senses. It is done automatically in the unconscious, and the ‘I’ is not aware of what is going on. But there is a staggering amount of data being processed all the time. Note that the unconscious also ensures the smooth running of nutrition, respiration, excretion, growth and repair, irritability and all the other vital processes. It is no wonder that the brain is such a gas guzzler – although relatively small, it uses 20% of the body’s energy.

When people begin to meditate they come to appreciate that “the mind has a mind of its own” and that “the heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about.” These are mindbending insights that have been recognised for more than 2000 years.

Daniel Kahneman’s recent work on behavioural economics recognises two aspects of thinking - fast and slow. There are many fast-thinking, automatic, intuitive reactions that are not always suited to modern environments. There is also the possibility of making slow-thinking considered responses that are informed by hard evidence. Most people use fast thinking most of the time. Slow thinking is hard work. Most people avoid it as much as possible. There are whole housing estates with undriven sports cars in garages.

The mindbrain’s backroom (the unconscious) is staggeringly busy all the time.

The ordinary man in the street knows nothing of this. He will be conscious only of the few crumbs that the unconscious flashes in to and out of his attention centre.

A mindfulness practitioner gradually becomes more aware of, and awake to, the limitations of the fast-thinking process. There is a slowing down (shamantha (stopping)) which leads to insight (vipassana (seeing)). Equanimity emerges and this leads to compassion for those who have not seen the light.

Driving lessons for the mindbrain are organised. The sports car is out of the garage, the accelerator is to the floor, and there is movement through the gears. “Up, up and away.”