Brain Study 2nd part: Summary of Findings(truth or dare?)

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Summary of Findings

During the development of the human neural system, there were six

eras of improvement in function:

 

1. The direct reaction to a sensor signal. This earliest development

of a neural system was a simple but fast functional response to the

stimulation of a sensor. A given sensor signal resulted in a given

fixed action. A pure example of this early neural process is still

observable in some single-cell animals using photo-synthesis which

will sense the direction of light and swim toward it. Man has many of

these reactive neural elements, from the blink of an eye (a physical

movement), to apprehension of the dark (a decision coloration).

2. The instinctive response to an inherited pattern which is

associated with danger or food. A sensor observes the environment and

compares the received sensor pattern with an inherited pattern. A

current example exists in some nesting birds. Wave a cutout in the

shape of a hawk over the nest and the chick will cringe. Wave a

cutout corresponding to the parent's outline and it will make a noise

and open its mouth for food. Although superseded (and largely

diminished or perverted by mutations as a result of disuse), many

still occur in man in the form of anxieties: sleeplessness during

full moon comes from an inherited fear of danger from predators on

such nights. Fear of height refers to the arboreal phase of man's

ancestry. Claustrophobia (once an aid to survival) developed when

confined in dark caves along with possible predators. Racial bigotry

came from millions of years of militant tribal relationships, where

any difference in personal appearance signaled danger.

3. The development of sensory memory and comparison. The fixed danger

or need pattern was largely replaced in the higher animals by sensor

memory and comparison. Remembered sensor experiences, all properly

graded with descriptions of associated fear, hunger or lust, are

constantly compared with the sensor's current view of the

environment. Highly developed in man, it is more limited in the other

higher species. This memory is not limited to experiences within the

environment. It is here that the animal may be trained. This entire

process is instinctive (programmed in neural circuitry). We refer to

it as 'intuition' and it is highly successful in the day to day

living experience. It is the most used thought process in man by far,

most humans rarely use any other process. We learn to drive a car,

prepare our food, speak a language, and follow the customs of our

culture, using this intuitive process. This is an instinctive

(intuitive, fixed process, neural signal reconciliation and conflict

resolution, state function) process, not an intelligent one. It is so

refined in man that it appears to him to be intelligent. It is not.

4. The ability to imagine, to mentally construct sensor patterns,

remember them, and then use them as if they were real in the value

summation neural circuits, provides a creativity element in the

instinctive value summation process. Observable in the other higher

animals, it is most prevalent in predators under great food stress.

They will develop intricate hunting scenarios. If unsuccessful, they

will as quickly develop new ones.

5. Conscious thought, an awareness of identity, a feeling of personal

management, is a relative newcomer, and probably (not at all certain)

is more developed in man than in the other higher animals. It grew

from the ability to imagine, to create experiences in the sensor

memories. First, imagine a scene. Now, imagine that you are in

charge, that you understand. That you need to do something with it.

Now imagine the solution. The power this factor added to the

intuitive process is incredible. Man, at least he thinks so, now had

the power to stand back and look at himself and the cosmos. Man now

had the power to become objective. Not that he ever wanted to, mind

you, but it was now possible.

6. Then, quite recently, modern man discovered intelligent thought, a

rigid methodology and a mostly painful process. Totally unsung, it

came from the artisans (not the philosophers), while seeking

repeatable methods to build dependable products. It required the

learning and application of provable knowledge and a rejection of

that which could not be proven. The engineer was born, vilified by

the intellectual from the beginning. The intelligent thought process

is not entertaining, like art, music, sports, literature and

philosophy, and it isn't easy or fun. It requires a measurable and

provable basis, thereby utterly destroying a lot of beautiful and

imaginative thought. It requires a careful single logical step at a

time, a seemingly terrible waste of a soaring and creative mind. It

requires physical verification at every logic step, a terribly boring

and rote procedure. And it takes a terrible amount of knowledge

preparation. But it produces real and measurable results. And if

something is really important, such as developing safe air flight, it

is always used, indeed it is demanded. The education of our children,

long an intellectual toy, must someday join the list of 'important'

things that deserve the same treatment. The uncontrolled application

of imagination and conjecture to an intangible basis, such as now

exists in our modern social studies, is the direct inverse of

intelligence and can only breed mischief.

All of these neural processes are interwoven in the human mind in

various portions. They are used simultaneously, and the divisions

between them are invisible to us. We never really know which element

prevailed in our decision. If we are in our day-to-day mode, we

operate entirely intuitively (instinctively). If we want to lean back

and look at things, we are in our 'awareness' (subjective) mode. It

is only when we set our conscious minds to it, and rigidly adhere to

the process, that we are 'intelligent'. Being 'intelligent' is not

an 'easy' process, nor is it fun. It requires effort to learn and

rigid self-control to use. But, it is productive.