Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Thoughts

Where are the thoughts coming from? From the brain, of course. Ok, but how do they get in there?

You didn't learn how to talk by yourself. You didn't invent the words; you learned them from people around you.

So, first you have to learn how to talk. As a four year old, you could probably talk quite well. Most likely you were talking too much and people around you told you, or begged you, to shut up, at least while you were eating. Maybe they told you that all your questions were driving them crazy.

Ever since then you have been talking, constantly, asking questions, coming up with answers, inventing stories and explanations. And if you don't happen to have anyone to talk to, you talk to yourself, in your fantasy, in your head.

Then, in school, they taught you how to read and write and about proper thinking. And from friends and peers, books and films, you learned how to think in improper ways.

My point is, what is going on in your head has its origins, not from you but from outside of you.

In any case, when a thought pops up in your head, where does it come from? Do you invent it? No, thoughts just come, don't they? From out of the blue.

Somehow, the electrochemical activity in your brain create questions and explanations from the words you have learned. You are like a saxophonist who has learned a number of notes and a number of melodies, and then, at some point, begin to invent his or her own melodies?

Imagine that you could see the electrochemical activities in your brain, enlarged on a computer screen. What would you see? Actors, like holographic images? Would you hear voices?

Imagine that you could follow exactly how the thoughts were formed.

I have absolutely no idea of why I write this. And, is it really me who is writing? If so, what is this I really made of?

The idea that you are alone in there, inside your head, in your brain, is ridiculous.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Hardwired ideas

It's usually pointless to discuss life with a jehovah's witness, or a mormon, or a salafist muslim. They already have it all figured out. They know it all. They are deaf to what you are saying. The same goes for Donald Trump supporters, neoliberals, hard line socialists, materialists, idealists, nihilists, go getters...

It's very difficult to change ideas, beliefs and opinions. We are very reluctant to change our ways. We get hardwired. We get stuck in ruts.

It's very difficult to change the mind - but it is possible. Sometimes religious people leave their religious cult and sometimes people even change their political views. Alcoholics can stop drinking and some careerists can suddenly leave the rat race. Strangely enough, after a big change, it seems just natural.

The process often begins with feelings of unease, doubt and questioning. Which implies that unease and doubt sometimes are useful and wholesome, and should not be treated as symptoms of something that is wrong and should be medicated. And a questioning mind can sometimes be very helpful.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

The transcendental reality

Dogs can hear sounds we can't hear and perceive scents we can't perceive. Butterflies and bees can see colours we can't see.

Our eminent scientists have constructed powerful instruments that enhance our senses enormously. However, the main part of the reality is still unknown to us. We call that unknown part of the reality the transcendental reality.

The transcendental reality is of course a mystery to us, and because we do not know anything about it we have to resort to fantasies. We create amazing fantasies about multiple universes, vibrating strings, a reality with no colors, no sounds and no scents; or realms were gods, angels and spiritual beings reside.

Many people are deeply convinced that they know what is going on in the transcendental world. But there is no consensus. In fact, different groups are seriously at loggerheads with each other because of their different beliefs, and followers of different religions or different religious groups can even start killing each other in order to to prove their point. Sometimes, they declare war to fight lies and heresies.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

What is a question and what is it made of?

What is the mind? What is it made of and where is it located?

You can't open up the skull of someone and find the mind in there somewhere.
Nor can you find the soul, the psyche, the ego or the true self.

The mind is not a thing. Water is not a thing either, but the mind is not like water. The mind is not like a river or a streem. Nor is the mind like air. Water and air consist of something.

The brain is not like a book, the mind is not like the text and the soul is not the gist of it. The mind is constantly changing. A book doesn't change from one day to the next.

The mind is not like a reflection in a pond. A reflection does not exist unless someone is there who notice it.

The mind is not like a magnetic field. A magnetic field can not influence it's own magnetic field. Maybe the mind is like a number of magnetic fields that are affecting each other. Who knows!

The truth is that no one knows what the mind is. There are many hypotheses and many suggestions on definitions, but there is no consensus. Maybe the mind consists of something but no one knows of what it consists of.

Why do you read this? What is reading this?
Why did it come here?