Science and medicine have come a long way in the last few centuries, particularly in the last. From the development of a new world view through Einstein’s theories to sending humans to the moon to heart transplants and brain surgery, science and medicine have advanced and knocked down boundaries all along the way. Now, M-Theory even promises a theory for everything in the universe. Yet, we all carry one mystery with us that proves very difficult to solve: the brain.
Luckily for us, even with all the technical advances made, no one but ourselves knows what is going on in our brain, so we are free to think whatever we want. It’s not like anyone is taking notes or going to remember everything, or?! Well, funny you should ask, ’cause actually your own brain is recording all your thoughts. Now this might not come as a surprise to you, however the implications of this are more far reaching than science originally expected.
In the last few years the concept of neuro plasticitiy has been formulated. Neuro plasticity means that the brain can change, and rewire areas when necessary. It was first thought that this only happened up to the age of 20 and to individuals who suffer from brain injury, yet recently it was discovered that this rewiring is taking place all the time. Rather than thinking of your brain as a computer, think of it as a jungle, and the more often you use one path, the clearer and bigger it becomes. This means that our own neurology is the witness of all our thoughts, all the decisions and believes we have, by the way it is wired up. Another implication of this is that maybe, and this is just a thought, we keep having the same problems we tend to have, because we are just so good at making them?
Looking at the brains of musicians one can find a larger than average portion devoted to auditory processing and finger movements, and when looking at the brain of meditating buddhist monks, one finds that they have wired themselves up to fully experience happiness, calmness and relaxation. This means that any state is only just a question of practice. Hence, the more you practice being relaxed, the more your own neurology will make pathways to make this happen.
We all carry all the possibilities within us, yet sometimes we decide to doubt what we can do and fall back into old routines and habits. It can be less than easy to believe fully in yourself and your own potential, and this is not just holistic mumbo jumbo, but simple neurology! Remember, like a beach, your thoughts leave footprints in the sand….
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February 23, 2007 at 4:52 pm
tentickles
You were right – I DID find this interesting. How do we explore other paths without falling (accidentally, or otherwise) into the well-trodden ones? Is this something you can choose to do, or is it something that requires a vast upheaval (such as major injury, as you mention) to trigger? I like considering my brain as a jungle rather than a computer – it provides a broader range of potential for growth in the future. Maybe it is time to consider some new paths.
February 23, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Phantomias
There are many different ways to change the way you certain things in order to avoid the well trodden paths- whether this is through vast upheaval or through techniques of meditation, hypnosis, or Neuro Linguistic Programming.
And once you know that it is actually easy to change, it actually becomes a choice you have.
Yes, you are right: comparing the brain to a computer is a insufficient metaphor, since your brain is so much more complex in its working. I shall write a post on that at some point.
Here a little thing for you to explore new paths. Edward de Bono calls this a “provocation operation”. While being a fancy name, it just means interrupting the patterns you run by doing something differently every day: if you brush your teeth with the right hand, tomorrow do it with the left. If you put your right sock on first, do the other. If you tend to drink red wine, drink white. This breaks the patterns you have, and makes neural connections that enhance your creativity and makes you also aware of your basic patterns.
Let me know what you think of this, and then I can post some more techniques here for changing patterns of thinking….
March 4, 2007 at 4:46 pm
tentickles
“provocation operation”
Funny you should mention that, because subconsciously (at least until I read your comment) this is exactly what I’ve been doing for the last month or so – and I feel a LOT better for it. I was skipping instant coffee, so I started making filter. I wasn’t cooking and I started cooking. I switched colours of wine. I used to never listen to music: I’ve started listening to tons of music. I changed the ordering of my morning routine. I’ve made, now that I come to think of it, hundreds of little changes to my life that encourage me onto new paths.
I guess the depths of my brain knows how explore new paths after all, I just don’t know how to recognise that it is happening.