Compared to a computer in the Information Age, the brain is incredibly limited. You cannot add memory to the brain or even plug in an external brain through a USB port for a direct download. Most people cannot access the brains WI-FI or data port to access the Internet so that they can freely roam and explore other peoples brains. The processing power of the brain depends largely on the energy contained in the body, and the bodys energy stays relatively fixed unless you dramatically transform your diet, nutrition intake, and exercise regimen. The memory capacity of the brain (the neurons and neural networks that store information) is at its peak when we need memory most - from birth to about 5 years old, then the brain starts to lose memory capacity. With a computer, you can add hard drive space over the years. The brain compensates for loss of memory capacity by creating neural networks that are increasingly complex, replacing raw data with analysis to achieve understanding and wisdom. As the brain and body enter middle age and old age, the brain compensates for the utter inability to replace memory chips by focusing all neural networks on specific, specialized tasks, letting go of everything else. Evolution is our ability to overcome physical limitations. There are three strategies available to us to overcome the limitations of he brain. One strategy is to use other peoples memories to add to your memories by creating collective memory. This is why we have friends and share our memories in a family. There will always be someone who has the best memory of a particular event, either from their own brain or from a recording. Another strategy is to record everything in as many ways as possible so that there is an archive of our experiences. Any library exists because it is the collective storage facility for the recorded memories of all people. Many people now use their cell phones and computers to store all of their memories instead of putting memories into libraries for collective use. Facebook and social media are storage places for collective memory, but Facebook and social media lack the equivalent of the Dewey Decimal System to facilitate research in the collective archive. The third strategy is twofold: increase the memory capacity of the brain and the research tools simultaneously, by (1) developing theoretical tools to organize memories, and (2) developing spiritual tools to use the collective consciousness of the universe as a storage space and research tool. From the third strategy humanity creates schools and churches, governments, fraternities, corporations, most of which are organized around families, the original source of collective memory. The method for developing theoretical tools to organize memories is to always think in terms of WHY instead of thinking in terms of WHAT. When the brain thinks in terms of WHAT - what is happening?, what is this?, who are you?, who am I? - the brain is forced to remember all this information as it loses its capacity to remember. This puts too much pressure on the brain and leads the brain to collapse sooner or later. When the brain thinks in terms of WHY - why is this happening?, why does this exist?, why are you in my life? why was I born? why is the world the way it is? - the effort to answer the WHY forces the brain to develop neural networks to store information. This alleviates the brain of storing all the information and lets the brain exist in a state of restful repose most of the time, accessing the neural network for relevant information only when necessary. I think of this strategy as creating the Internet - or at least a close approximation of the Internet - within your brain. These strategies for overcoming the brains inherent limitations explain why the world is the way it is: Every society will have leaders and followers, bosses and employees, rulers and the ruled. The people in any society who are the followers, the employees, and the ruled will almost always ask WHAT?, seldom or never WHY? If you are a follower and you want to become a leader, you have to work your way up to WHY by asking HOW questions: How does this work? Once you become a master of HOW answers and HOW becomes instant, intuitive, then you will be put in positions of leadership and have access to WHY answers for peoples WHY questions. If you are a follower or an employee, you may ask WHY questions occasionally, but you will rarely attempt to change the WHY answer for yourself and other people because you will not know the HOW. The Information Age has put so much pressure on every person to absorb as much information as the brain can hold that we all have incentives to relieve the pressure on our brains by using computers more than our brains. The brain is incredibly fragile when we put so much pressure on it. Family members often protect the fragility of the brain by discussing memories only during the holidays. Employees protect the fragility of the brain by specializing in the subject they are most passionate about at this moment, forgetting the rest. Rulers, bosses, and leaders protect the fragility of the brain by relying exclusively on staff and advisers to use their brains in service of the ruler. Life was so much simpler and easier, even better, more equitable, before the Information Age. I often wish we could go back to the early 1990s so that all of this pressure on our brains would disappear. A reduction of pressure would not end division between rulers and ruled, leaders and followers, bosses and employees, but it would make it much easier to be a leader instead of a follower.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:02:22 +0000
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