Athenes Theory of Everything. Part 1
God is in the Neurons
Watching this, somebody said this is extremely good : "
One of the most amazing and up to date videos I have seen on Quantum Physics"
Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbh5l0b2-0o
So my top remarks:
About NeuralPlasticity
Our neural connections forming neural networks seem to adjust themselves along the road. The more we do something, the stronger connections we form about this thing, the better we get at it! And vice versa, the less we do something - connections that still exist, start to disconnect in time...
And this is fundamental to our brain. We can learn ANYTHING:
- any skill
- emotion
- self awareness
Part 1. Social NeuroScience
Specific neurons and neurotransmitters such as norephinephrine trigger a deffensive state when we feel that our thoughts must be protected from the influence of others.
[--
Si (Edit in 2012.04: Si was my gf at the time of posting this. This relationship ended in few months ) does a lot of that when I am talking with her about certain topics important to me, she turns her defensive mechanisms on. It's either one of ...:
- either she turns her individualistic "cat" side of her on, and I turn my social "dog" side On, and they simply don't align together,
- or she just thinks it's a threat, maybe because she feels that she must protect her thoughts from my influence
- Or she just dislikes me in certain moments, and no matter what I say - she reacts in a defensive mode?!
--]
If we are then faced with differences in opinion, the chemicals released in the brain are the same ones that try to ensure our survival - when we are faced with dangerous situations.
[ --
apparently what I am saying to Si - is different to what she thinks, therefore those chemicals are relased
--]
In this
defensive state, when more primitive part of the brain interferes with our rational thinking and the lymbic system knocks out most of our working memory - physically
causing "Narrow-Mindedness"
[-- So that means - Si becomes narrow minded, and with her reactions - triggers the same reaction in me --]
We see this in politics of fear, poker, or simply when someone is stubborn in the discussion!
No matter how great an idea is - the
brain has TROUBLE processing it - when it is
in defensive state!
On a neural level, it reacts as if it was threatened, even if this threat comes from harmless opinions or facts, which might be helpful if valued rationally & with Open Mind!
What would cause a different outcome?
When we express ourselves and our view is APPRECIATED, these "defense - chemicals" decrease in the brain - REWARD neurons are being activated, making us feel EMPOWERED and increasing our SELF ESTEEM!
Self-ESTEEM or SELF-BELIEF is closely linked to SEROTONIN. Lack of it leads to:
- depression
- self destructive behavior
- or even suicide
So:
SOCIAL VALIDATION increases levels of DOPAMINE and SEROTONIN, which allows us to let go of emotional fixations and helps us become self aware more easily
!
[--
This is SOOOOOOOOO important, because quite the opposite is happening in my relationship with Si at the moment. I am not validated soooo many times by Si, that my Dopamine and Serotonin levels are dropping and I am causing hers to drop as well -
we are destroying each other! This must stop, I must talk to Si about this!!!! NOW
--]
Part 2: Mirror Neurons & Consciousness
Movie is Talking about mirror neurons, that they are an essential part of our brain, that they make or break our day. That when we connect with other people, we feel good - because of these mirror neurons. If or When we can't connect (can't get social validation) we start to feel bad!
We are dependent on our mirror Neurons - they make us try to FIT IN!
Because of them we are in a constant duality - between how we see ourselves and how others see us!
Yet when we are aware of ourselves, we can identify which THOUGHTS cause bad feelings and we can CHANGE their IMPACT on us.
Self observing profoundly changes the way our brain works! It activates our neo-cortical regions, which gives us incredible amount of control over our feelings and thoughts that cause them!
Every time we do this (self observing) - our rationality and our emotional resilience are strengthened!
Being not self aware - will make us more and more irritated, as our brains not coping with this reality(that we are not self aware) will try to find various solutions - "why we behaved rationally", fooling both itself and others and writing these false memories back into our brain!
Mirror neurons allow us understand ourselves through others!
Part 3: God is in the Neurons
Each neuron has a voltage, and once a neuron reaches it's voltage level - it will fire an electrical signal to other cells, which will repeat this process.
When many neurons fire at the same time -we can measure these changes in the form of a wave!
Brainwaves underpin almost everything going on in our minds! These waves oscillate at different frequencies : alpha, theta and gamma.
Transfer of information between neurons becomes optimized when their activity (brainwave) is synchronized. This is the same reason why we experience cognitive dissonance, the frustration caused by simultaneously holding two contradictory ideas (brain is not synchronized then)!
Will is merely the drive to reduce dissonance between each of our active neural circuits!
Evolution can be seen as the same process where nature is trying to adapt or "resonate/synchronize" with it's environment.
While doing so it evolved to a point where it became SELF AWARE and began pondering it's own existence. When person faces a paradox while wanting purpose while thinking human existence is meaningless - cognitive dissonance occurs.
Throughout history this has led many to reach for spiritual and religious guidance, challenging science as it has failed to give answers to existential questions, such as "Why or what am I?"
Part 4: I am Athene
The mirror neuron does not know the difference between it and others!
The
Left cerebral hemisphere is responsible for creating a coherent belief system, in order to create a sense of continuity towards our lives! New experiences get folded into the preexisting belief system.
When they don't fit - they are simply denied!
Counter balancing this is the
Right cerebral hemisphere which is constantly challenging the status-qua. When anomalies become too large - a right hemisphere requires a revision of our worldview (belief system).
However when our beliefs are too strong, the right hemisphere may not succeed in overriding our denial!
This can create a profound confusion when mirroring others:
When neural connections - that physically define our belief system, are not strongly developed or active, then our
consciousness - the unity of our active circuits at that moment, may consist mainly of activity related to our mirror neurons.
Think about this for a moment....
Just as we experience hunger - we don't think about it, instead we think- how to get food, because at the moment our consciousness consists mainly of other neural interactions - of consuming food!
There is no Core in the brain, all the circuits may become active and inactive depending on the need, and without an interference of a central core(non existing one)
This trait makes us a different entity at every moment:
- when hungry
- when mirroring others
- when watching video
- when in argument
- when kitesurfing
- when teaching
- or when reading this post
Every second we become different person as we go through different states and enable different active circuits. (you can prove this to yourself very easily. Just remember yourself today or yesterday as you felt, as you behaved in different situations/places, surrounded by different people, doing different activities.. You were quite a different person, weren't you?!)
Something to note:
Neural synergies that produce our oscillating consciousness go far beyond our own neurons.
We are equally the result of our internal neural communication as to other neurons in our environment ( other ppl, we are getting in contact with ) In this picture -
nothing is External!
And our identity is not forming just because of firings of neurons inside of our brain, but also because of connection to other neurons and their circuits( eg. OTHER PEOPLE through the help of mirror neurons)
This is not a hypothetical philosophy, it is the basic property of mirror neurons which allows us understand ourselves through others! Seeing this activity as your own while excluding the environment - would be a huge misconception!
The Super Organism
Our survival as primates relied on our collective abilities. Over time the neocortical regions evolved to modulation of primitive instincts and the overriding of the hedonistic impulses of the benefit of the group. Our selfish genes have come to promote our reciprocal/mutual social behaviors in superorganismal structures, effectively discarding the notion of "survival of the fittest".
The brains neural activity resonates most coherently when there is no dissonance between these new advanced cerebral regions with the older more primitive ones.
What we traditionally perceive as "selfish tendencies" is only a narrow interpretation of what self-serving behavior entails, through flawed paradigm of identity...
On an scientific explanation we are:
a momentary expression of an ever-changing unity with no center!
The psychological consequences of this as an objective belief system allow self awareness without the attachment to the imagined self,
causing dramatic increases in the mental clarity, social conscience, self regulation and what's often described as "being in the moment".
The common cultural belief mostly has been that we need a narrative and moral values. But with our current understanding of our brain - now we know that a "no attachments" to our identity or story, yields a far more accurate, meaningful and ethical paradigm, than our anecdotal values!
This is logical, since our traditional tendency is to define ourselves as individualistic constant, this naturally wires our brain towards dysfunctional cognitive processes, such as compulsive labeling.
Practical labeling is useful in our daily lives, but by psychologically labeling the self as internal and the environment as external - we constrain our own neurochemical processes and experience a deluded disconnection.
Growth and it's evolutionary side-effects, such as happiness and fulfillment are stimulated when we are not being labeled in our interactions.
Neural Interactions that accept us for who we truly are without judgement, are neuropsychological catalysts that wire a human brain to acknowledge others and accept rationally verifiable belief systems without dissonance.
Stimulating this type of neural activity alleviates (palengvina/sumažina) the need for distraction or entertainment and
creates cycles of constructive behavior in our environment/society.
Sociologists have established that obesity and smoking, ideas and emotions spread and ripple through society in much the same way as electric signals of neurons, when their activity is synchronized.
We are a global network of neurochemical reactions. And the self-amplifying cycle of acceptance and acknowledgement, sustained by the daily choices in our interactions is the chain-reaction that will ultimately define our collective to overcome our imagined differences and to look at life in the Grand Scheme of Things
