Churn – a compilation

The mindbrain in its conscious, self conscious and unconscious forms is in a constant state of churn. The churning involves mixing and matching fresh inputs from the senses with materials stored in memory. Some of the memories will have been hard wired others will have been learned; but there is neural plasticity so changing minds is always possible.

Over the last two years I have blogposted 20 articles containing the word ‘churning’. They are listed below in chronological order. They came spontaneously from the unconscious and lead towards a fuller understanding of the churn concept. I acknowledge Rick Hanson (2013) Hardwiring Happiness for pulling so much together.

28 Feb 2013 changing minds: dropped out              We are the vital churn of stardust whose beginnings and endings are unknown and perhaps ultimately unknowable. We can, however, be conscious of our consciousness but that won't save us when the sun goes out. 

04 Mar 2013 changing minds: responsible for our intentions                There is ongoing churn amongst the brain modules and this creates many items of thought and feeling as possible outputs. These are prioritised and form patterns which tell a story - and the intention to think, speak or act ... 

15 Mar 2013 changing minds: Ask the horse            But you will also sense that the upfront stuff is but the tip of the enormous iceberg that is your unconscious: and the unconscious is in a state of vital churn and constant flux while it (a) processes information coming in from the ... 

31 May 2013                           changing minds: Quagmire Brains   The mass of atoms on planet earth stays the same but there is ongoing churn as they join together and fall apart. If we view time as linear then we have the problem of figuring what came before the big bang. A beginningless ... 

16 Aug 2013                           changing minds: When is a blog useful?         Because of the paradigm shift there is awareness of the ongoing mental churn. Concentration involves focus but this can flicker on and off as attention shifts to accommodate the ongoing monitoring process. Absent minded ... 

15 Dec 2013 changing minds: We're a' John Knox's bairns   This mental churn has been going on since childhood and one of my early songs capture the politics of what is going on: “There's a voice inside you it's the voice of other men. It's the voice of people dead and gone 

11 Jan 2014   changing minds: Imperfect nature     It is driven and shaped by the energetic churn operating on the various levels of the spatial zoom from quantum to cosmos. I find it both amusing and awesome that cosmic stardust became conscious and is now conscious of ... 

17 Jan 2014   changing minds: Perpetual churn       Perpetual churn. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed: but it can be converted from one type to another. There are nine types - heat, light, sound, chemical, electrical, magnetic, ... 

21 Jan 2014   changing minds: Churn and flux        Churn and flux. Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher. He reckoned that all things exist in a state of constant change and he is best known for noting that you cannot step in the same river twice. This idea is captured in ... 

14 Feb 2014 changing minds: Gender urge              When I am anxious and stressed it is because of the churn in the unconscious throwing juicy stuff into the attention centre where the conscious aspect of the mindbrain gives careful thought to the issue. A pause for reflection. 

03 Apr 2014 changing minds: For whatever reason               Because of the ongoing unconscious churn no story with its thoughts and feelings stays the same for long. There is ongoing neural plasticity which ensures that change continues and that the individual, or perhaps the group, ... 

03 Apr 2014 changing minds: Ffafing aboot with churning whims    The unconscious is perpetually busy churning thoughts and feelings. This process involves linking present time sensory inputs to past time memories and then reacting or responding by taking appropriate actions. BUT, for the ... 

17 Apr 2014 changing minds: the mindbrain douche            The Mindbrain is split. There is less focus than there might be. 'I' become an unintentional robot managed by a stream of unconscious churn that incorporates the decoded signals from the wire-less airwaves. To be focused is ... 

18 Apr 2014 changing minds: The multitasking mindbrain 'I' am subjectively aware that the unconscious is continuously churning facts and feelings and making them into little stories some of which are fleeting inhabitants of the conscious attention centre. I sometimes wonder about ...

 

30 Apr 2014 changing minds: Relaxed Social Interaction    When I am by myself it is relatively easy to be mindful of my mental churn or at least those parts that appear in consciousness. When in a group of nine other people there is the churn of nine other mindbrains to consider. 

05 May 2014                           changing minds: Doing a helicopter                 There is then focussed flow which is 'in the groove' or 'in the zone' and the unconscious can churn out its 'stuff'. This is equivalent to letting the 'muse' speak. She is the mind that has a mind of her own; and she is the result of ...

08 May 2014                           changing minds: Mindfulness – short notes 01             This calls for a new answer to the old question “Who am I?” Surprisingly the answer is that 'I' am the output from an ongoing and everchanging churn of mental activity. 'I' have no abiding reality – thoughts of 'I', 'me', 'mine', ...

16 Jun 2014   changing minds: Facts will ding           Facts exist in particular mindbrains and as such are subject to ongoing cognitive churn. They are thus readily overturned, disputed and subject to reinterpretation. There is nothing substantive about them. The biologist Stephen ... 

04 Jul 2014    changing minds: A shifting vocation But there is churn in the mindbrains of policy makers, freelance philosophers, media makers and ordinary people. World views and the language in which they are expressed change. Many new words are created but only a ... 

09 Sep 2014 changing minds: Morality memes      ... stone-age foragers in the African savannah. But then the neo-cortex evolved and language came with it. Metaphorical single track roads and superhighways flourished and gave rise to a dynamic churn of myths and magic.