I have the tendency to write as much as I feel I need to write.
But I want to try something new. Short and concisely sweet enough to indirectly and directly describe my thoughts. That is very Zen and not Zen at all.
After all, everyone has other things to do with their time.
A monk once said, "Get rid of anything that does not aid you."
If your way of thinking is similar to mine, there can be an infinite source of paths to take with that one phrase. And it's true meaning arises differently at every stage of one's life.
Amorphous is what I am to a certain extent and it is still a label is it not? There are those who are defined by their words, experiences, attributes, ideals or thoughts but when you look at it from the universal principle then everyone is to a variable degree amorphous.
Whether it is religion, science, experience, knowledge, power, etc you name the word and everything and nothing comes to mind. You as the individual are not the same person from when you were one, five, 15, 20, 30 and so forth. It's still you the whole you but the stages of your individual self is very much amorphous.
Your brain as a child destroys the pathways in your neurotransmitters and connects and adjusts to produce new paths because it simply wasn't needed. That influence is directly linked to what you are exposed to externally in your environment as well as internally through your genetics.
You take what you think is most concerted by your brain, mind, and body as well as your soul to evolve in another level of your development. And sometimes you can't or won't.
That is only one way of looking at "Getting rid of anything that does not aid you."
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Short and Sweet
Posted by Angel at 11:30 PM
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5 comments:
You have raised a pet issue here, and I'll clarify a few things on it. It is about neuroscience.
It is true that the human brain works by developing neurotransmitters as one grows. In actual fact, memories and personalities develop as the neurons within the brain make more and more interconnections with time.
However, the human brain is incapable of completely rejecting old, useless experiences and knowledge, contrary to popular believes. I'll explain why.
You have several billion neurons in your head. These neurons have the capability to make trillions of interconnections 'twixt them. Each interconnection can potentially hold a nuance of memory. All in all, your brain is now over 2 million times more powerful than the most powerful computer in existence.
Now when new experiences come in, neuron-interconnectivity form to hold them. As a memory ages and becomes less frequently accessed, the pathway to that particular memory fades. But the pathway never gets completely lost. This is the secret behind the success of such cults like scientology.
When L. R. Hubbard, the founder of scientology, realized the vast capacity of the brain, he institutionalized systems to aid people remember old experiences which could be affecting their present personalities. This was mostly done through hypnosis. With time, as the human digs up those old memories, and faces up to their significance, he or she becomes more adept at understanding and accepting his or her limitations.
Through scientology, many people have finally come to realize their full potentials in life. Tom Cruise, Will Smith and John Travolta, as you probably know, are Scientologists. I'm not a fanatic of Scientology, by the way, but I respect its potential impact on the human psyche.
That's really interesting. Although hypnosis as a way of retrieving memory??? Read up on some articles on that and even witnessed a person becoming hypnotized but is it truly possible? Some are more suceptible than others. Why is that? And the human brain can completely reject various experiences...how many brain cells does one lose per day, or how bout amnesia, or injuries to the head, or Alzheimers? Are you saying that the memory is still there but cannot be retrieved?
Like the most advanced computers in the world today, there's a lot of redundancy built into the human brain. Hence the loss of several brain cells may not affect the memory banks or personality of a human. Heck, young children suffering from brain tumors have been known to undergo hemispherectomy - the removal of an entire half brain - and still live on to have a healthy life.
Brain redundancy means that several brain cells may be having the same functions, spread more or less equally amongst them. If you remove some of the cells, the rest continue with the function, and actually "breed off" some responsibilities to neighboring cells.
Brain cells don't die, unless a major trauma has occurred. This is quite unlike all the other cells of the body, which need to be replaced with time. The neurons in your head right now are the same ones you were born with. If you lose any, it can't be replaced - adults don't manufacture brain cells.
Amnesia can either be psychological or physical. Psychological amnesia occurs when the brain blocks off traumatic memories. This kind of amnesia is reversible. Physical amnesia occurs if some brain cells have been physically affected - mechanically or pathologically. It is rare that people recover from physical amnesia. Alzheimer's can be considered to be a pathological sort of brain condition.
Theoretically, anybody is susceptible to hypnosis. However, some people are more susceptible to some hypnotizing methods than others. This difference is highly reliant on individual personality.
To me, to "get rid of anything that does not aid you" is to strip yourself of that which you are not. Identity is mostly formed in opposition to other things floating around us in the relative world- the 'words, ideals, attributes, ideals or thoughts.' But when you see through what you describe as the unversal principle (which is what I play about with in writing) then you see what you are as what you are and there is no striving to acquire or get rid... because you are as you are- the infinite bliss of the universe! :-)
:-) Thank you for your thoughts Nathan.
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