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The Brain Mind Center |
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Topics from the book, Some Topics from the book The Nature of MindTuning into the Universe Connected to the Environment How Many Senses? Misunderstanding Mind/Body Mental Illness? Right & Left Brain Neurons Neuroscience Notes Mind Drugs Psychiatry versus Biology Psychosomatic Mechanisms of Brain Dysfunction Nutrition & Brain Allergy and the Brain Wheat Gluten and the Brain Attention Deficits Depression Is Stress Real? Preventing Strokes Elixir of Sanity & Joy Memory Self Regulation Intelligence Thinking Is Stress Real? Catecholamines Dopamine Amino Acids Serotonin Brain Drug Issues & Warnings History of Mind DrugsPrescription Drug Abuse Pain Relief with Narcotic Drugs Sleeping Pills, Ambiens Children and Antidepressants Adults and Antidepressants Avoid Stimulant Drugs Reversible Stroke & Ephedra Hyperactivity/ADHD Avoid Antipsychotic Drugs Children Antipsychotic Drugs Seniors Alcohol Abuse Chantrix Warning
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“Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels there really is another way, if he only could stop and think of it.” A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin Humans are proud of their ability to think but seldom know what thinking is. The term “thinking” is used casually in common speech, but it remains a fuzzy word that is difficult to explain. Thinking is rooted in a deep and innate understanding of how the world works, and thought structures are built from raw materials such as movement and language. Selftalk is the only conscious mode of thinking and is so implicit in consciousness that “thinkers” fail to identify selftalk as their primary mode of thinking. Thinking is therefore story telling, a form of argument. If you want thinking to mean something else such as processing information, solving problems, making decisions or creating new ideas, then thinking is not a voluntary process that occurs in consciousness. Deep cognitive processes are about recognizing the relationships among events, making decisions, sequencing in spacetime, and problem solving. Nonverbal thinking is revealed in tool making, tool use, mimetic behavior, actions and simulations. Gestures, drawings, models and constructions are all examples of “thought processes” that are independent of language and proceed spontaneously in the brain.
My books consists of a long series of spontaneously arising ideas that I record soon after they pop up in my consciousnesses. Sometimes, a new idea makes old ideas obsolete and I have to change an entire text to accommodate the new understanding. The process of writing requires selftalk rehearsal and constant revision that is more or less spontaneous and evolutionary. Input from a large number of other humans is, of course, essential to good understanding of complex issues. Meaningful conversation is a common method of “thinking”, but repeating clichés, stories and case-making conversations are not recommended. I heard Marvin Minsky, the guru of artificial intelligence at MIT, claim at a digital arts conference many years ago, that he hated to repeat himself. Subsequently, I heard him repeat this idea at least twice. My guess is that Minsky made this claim numerous times over several decades. Life is a repetitive affair and most humans copy and repeat what they and others say and do with little or no modification over a lifetime. Minsky’s aversion was to humans who repeat themselves mindlessly and tediously and who annoy or obstruct smarter, more progressive humans who are interested in continuous learning and evolving understanding.
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You are viewing the Brain Mind Center at Alpha Online. Persona Digital publishes Philosophy, Psychology and Neuroscience books. The topics discussed at the Brain Center are taken from this series of books. These books are available as print editions at Alpha Online or they can be downloaded from Persona Digital a separate online site where you can read book topics and download eBooks as PDF files. You are at Alpha Online, a division of Environmed Research, founded in 1984 at Vancouver, BC, Canada. Online Since 1995. Alpha Nutrition is a trademark and a division of Environmed Research Inc. All Alpha Education books, eBooks and Starter packs are ordered online. We are located at Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, close to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. |
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