The end at last!

Come along!

RB3 - It's the End of the World as We Know It by... by XxIronManxX1

The science of discovering ourself

The medical field is probably one of the most fast paced developing technologies, and in the past few years we have discovered more about our own bodies than we have about renewable energy sources.

One of these developments that are still making headlines since it was first developed is flow magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. While it was originally developed to aid the medical fraternity in their diagnostic ability, this technology is currently providing us with discoveries that are literally the stuff of dreams. By measuring the changes in blood flow through the brain during different mental activities, this device is able to tell us more than we ever thought possible about the functioning of one of the most mysterious organs in the body, the human brain.

This three pound of mushy Grey matter that give us abilities that are so unique in the animal kingdom that we have the power to subjugate nothing less than nature itself has remained clouded in a shroud of speculation, conjugation and even plain conjecture. This is in stark contrast to other scientific discoveries of the human body, where the absolute and exact is considered to be nothing less than standard. But with the use of fMRI imaging we are starting to understand how the brain makes sense of the input from our senses to provide each of us with our own unique view of a common reality. From understanding the difference between emotional and neutral memories, to finding why people in a happy mood will almost always choose the first of any available choices given, all the way through to the role of emotions in determining self bias and the shocking discovery that morals are nothing less than conclusions and deductions to defend our actions.

Take for instance the recent discovery that the act of imagination take place in the same region of the brain that involves memory, which challenges general convention that there is a big difference between fact and fiction. From the perspective of our brain the difference does not seem to matter much, although it does seem that these two thought processes could be distinguished through subtle memory references to sensory and kinesthetic memory patterns. Sometimes these subtle references are not so subtle, which explains for instance why many men can remember their wedding vouws, but they cannot recall asking the hand of their beloved. The answer can be found in their posture. Because many men stand on their knees when they propose marriage, that memory is encoded with the act of kneeling. Most men would recall that magical moment if they just went down on their knees!

Another recent discovery that sent shockwaves through the ranks of philosophers and preachers alike is that we seem to make choices before we arrive at a conscious decision. Through the use of fMRI it was shown that brain activity indicate what a respondent would choose up to 7 seconds before the respondent indicated that he has made up his mind on a choice, which questions previously held opinions regarding concepts such as free choice and accountability.

The ultimate impact of this diagnostic tool on our understanding of how we think and feel and act is far from being reached. Scientists are currently in the process of mapping the various regions of the brain that become active during various mental tasks, and it is a matter of time that the link between these various regions and how they interact with each other become apparent. As we learn more about the brain and its mysteries we learn more about why we think the way we do, and move closer to understanding who we are.

Three faces of reality

Reality is flawed. Not only by it’s definition, but also in it’s perception. According to the AskOxford definition of perception, it is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Perception is of Latin origin from the word percipere, meaning to seize or understand. While this may seem to infer some significance, explanation or cause based on information received, we must be cautious to assume that something is present or not based on our perception.

The reason why it is so difficult to define perception is that it changes from one moment to the next, and our mind has the ability to alter any sensory stimulus based on a variety of factors. They include things such as which half of our brain has control over sensory input at the time of awareness, how we feel at the time, the simultaneous or remembered presence of any emotion, any conscious or unconscious value that we may attach to the sensation and whether it is a shared experience. All of which take care of one face of reality as we know it. The next face put our awareness in perspective with everything else we have experienced, and provide us with an understanding of what we have perceived. The third ‘face’ that complete our experience of reality is our reaction to the awareness, based on our understanding of the sensory stimulus we felt. This not only changes our input, but may also change the factors that influence our perception. Considering all that has been said it is perhaps a bit harsh to say that reality is flawed, when in truth it just has more than one face. What we need to understand is to what level our perception is influenced by both conscious, as well as unconscious factors, factors that may or may not be under our control. We need to know that we lose our ability for rational thought and logical reasoning when we are emotionally triggered, and we need to accept the fact that there will never be a reality quite like our own.

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Wanting what we have

Science has shown us that our brains are very good at making predictions, even to the extent that most of our daily lives are spent executing actions that are based on a predicted reality. This reality is orchestrated by a specific area in the brain that is strongly connected to our ego and our primitive instinct for survival, and with the aid of modern technology we are able to track the neural pathways that are activated through this process.

Research now tell us that our brains are uniquely adapted to adjust in response to our environment, in effect "tuning" our anticipated actions to achieve the maximum desired result. This result can be anything we want, and we have the conscious ability to program the outcome of our actions towards survival, procreation, social advancement, our any version of success, fame or fortune we have in mind. Any thing that our ego may consider would make us feel good. Anything, including feeling good.

It is interesting to note that different neural pathways are activated depending on the nature of our desired outcome, and that these pathways are the same in all of us. With the use of flow magnetic resonance imaging researchers are discovering which areas of our brain are responsible for every type of human behavior you can imagine, and by generating this "map" of brain function we are now even able to "read minds" based only on the measured activity in specific parts of the brain. But when we focus on using our senses the brain changes the way it works.

When we focus on experiencing our environment the brain has a totally different way of operating which is currently not well understood, and which involves the activation of various parts simultaneously. And according to scientific reports these synchronized flares of activity are totally different from the fixed neural pathways discussed earlier. The neural activity observed when we use our senses involve different parts of the brain that are seemingly disconnected from each other, resulting in recognizable patterns rather than pathways. This is also the pattern of thinking we see when we choose to feel good.

When we consciously choose to feel good our brains stop predicting and start working, and according to the latest research the outcomes experienced by subjects are much more positive than those where the brain is in predictive mode. Examples of the advantages observed when our brains operate in feel-good mode are numerous and includes decreased stress and anxiety, higher learning capacity and greater satisfaction.

With the scientific evidence to back, perhaps it is time that we stop trying to make sense of where we are going, and start to sense where we are. If we can believe the research we will all be much happier if we change the way we think, but first we must have the courage that change what we want.

Trippy, isn't it?