Out of mind experience
It occurred to me that I completely went astray on what I had intended to be the topic of my previous post, two posts ago. That's just a testament to the magnitude of the head ache I had that night. For those of you concerned, I finally made it to sleep at 3am and made it to work at 9. (this is where you pretend you were concerned).
What I had touched upon, and what I expect to continue here, was that the separation between mind and body is just that, a separation. We've evolved over millions of years, adapting to our environment, developing socialization skills (true for most people), and generally becoming overall good citizens of our respective countries. Over this time our congizance went from "ugh, rock" to "ugh, look, a rock". Admittedly, not a large advancement but enough to bring us such wondrous things such as fire, train engines, and the Slinky. Contrary to what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might say, we are far superior to mice in the sense that we don't eat our young though I've never seen a mouse jump on a chair when they saw a human in a room. Dolphins, on the other hand, are definitely giving us a run for our money on aerodynamic sleekness and overall cuteness. Ultimately, though, we trump them all with that ever so important detail that has really let us blossom from our earliest ancestors into the technological masters we are now: the burrito. Opposable thumbs have also come in handy.
What I'm getting to, however, is what is commonly considered the cherry on our sundae, the creamy center of our Twinkie, the chocolate chip in our cookie: our brains. Now, I'm not saying this applies to everyone because, frankly, I've known a few people with, well, a shortage of chocolate chips in their cookie if you get my drift and, although capable of not setting back the species, will not advance us any. On the whole, however, I think we're doing quite well. We've got this incredibly system of nerves bundled up in our heads more complicated than the New York subway system which we may never understand. How's that for a quandary? It's possible that we're being run by something that we are incapable of ever understanding. That would be God laughing at us.
If you're looking for a point to this ramble then keep looking...it's bound to turn up soon.
As I sat on my couch in utter agony the other night I was faced with the realization that I had absolutely control of my body. Usually, I am grateful for this fact since I have no desire to be consciously aware of every breath I take, every eyelid I blink, and heart contraction that keeps me alive and able to write dribble like this. Whoever designed that part was a genius (no, that was not an endorsement of intelligent design...I'll get to my feelings on that another time). What stuck me as, well, annoying (for lack of a better word) is that not only do I have no control over those functions, but we're severely limited elsewhere. I can flex some muscles. Not all of them, just enough to get me from place to place and lift a few heavy weights ever now and then. What I couldn't do was convince myself that the excruciating muscle cramping occuring in my neck the other night was something I could have done about. If my brain is so smart (at least smarter than my phone) then why couldn't I have decided to release whatever muscles were out of whack and let me sleep?
I know enough about physiology to understand that nothing is ever that simple. A muscle cramp isn't just a muscle cramp. It all has to do with chemical imbalances, stress, and over acting nerve fibers (reminds me of professional wrestling). I just don't see why my body couldn't have better resource management and fix that bastard up, or why my brain wasn't able to resolve it.
The moral of the story is this: you have absolutely no control over what your body does. Anything you consider to be free will is just a nerve have a seizure in the inner depths of your brain and your body doing something because of it. That ice cream cone you had the other day: too much seratonin. The car trip you took to Vegas with your best buddies and the one-legged hitchhiker named Misti with the lazy eye and totebag full of nachos? Not enough dopamine. Even everything I write here is just a consequence of something funky going in my body, most likely due to the week old sushi I had for dinner.
So, for those of you go-getters out there fighting to make your own destinies, be warned. Your body has basic driving needs and your life is simply a consequence of that. By no means am I telling you to give up, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Just be aware that what you think is your personality is simply an unconscious construct leading you towards that next chocolate chip.
What I had touched upon, and what I expect to continue here, was that the separation between mind and body is just that, a separation. We've evolved over millions of years, adapting to our environment, developing socialization skills (true for most people), and generally becoming overall good citizens of our respective countries. Over this time our congizance went from "ugh, rock" to "ugh, look, a rock". Admittedly, not a large advancement but enough to bring us such wondrous things such as fire, train engines, and the Slinky. Contrary to what the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might say, we are far superior to mice in the sense that we don't eat our young though I've never seen a mouse jump on a chair when they saw a human in a room. Dolphins, on the other hand, are definitely giving us a run for our money on aerodynamic sleekness and overall cuteness. Ultimately, though, we trump them all with that ever so important detail that has really let us blossom from our earliest ancestors into the technological masters we are now: the burrito. Opposable thumbs have also come in handy.
What I'm getting to, however, is what is commonly considered the cherry on our sundae, the creamy center of our Twinkie, the chocolate chip in our cookie: our brains. Now, I'm not saying this applies to everyone because, frankly, I've known a few people with, well, a shortage of chocolate chips in their cookie if you get my drift and, although capable of not setting back the species, will not advance us any. On the whole, however, I think we're doing quite well. We've got this incredibly system of nerves bundled up in our heads more complicated than the New York subway system which we may never understand. How's that for a quandary? It's possible that we're being run by something that we are incapable of ever understanding. That would be God laughing at us.
If you're looking for a point to this ramble then keep looking...it's bound to turn up soon.
As I sat on my couch in utter agony the other night I was faced with the realization that I had absolutely control of my body. Usually, I am grateful for this fact since I have no desire to be consciously aware of every breath I take, every eyelid I blink, and heart contraction that keeps me alive and able to write dribble like this. Whoever designed that part was a genius (no, that was not an endorsement of intelligent design...I'll get to my feelings on that another time). What stuck me as, well, annoying (for lack of a better word) is that not only do I have no control over those functions, but we're severely limited elsewhere. I can flex some muscles. Not all of them, just enough to get me from place to place and lift a few heavy weights ever now and then. What I couldn't do was convince myself that the excruciating muscle cramping occuring in my neck the other night was something I could have done about. If my brain is so smart (at least smarter than my phone) then why couldn't I have decided to release whatever muscles were out of whack and let me sleep?
I know enough about physiology to understand that nothing is ever that simple. A muscle cramp isn't just a muscle cramp. It all has to do with chemical imbalances, stress, and over acting nerve fibers (reminds me of professional wrestling). I just don't see why my body couldn't have better resource management and fix that bastard up, or why my brain wasn't able to resolve it.
The moral of the story is this: you have absolutely no control over what your body does. Anything you consider to be free will is just a nerve have a seizure in the inner depths of your brain and your body doing something because of it. That ice cream cone you had the other day: too much seratonin. The car trip you took to Vegas with your best buddies and the one-legged hitchhiker named Misti with the lazy eye and totebag full of nachos? Not enough dopamine. Even everything I write here is just a consequence of something funky going in my body, most likely due to the week old sushi I had for dinner.
So, for those of you go-getters out there fighting to make your own destinies, be warned. Your body has basic driving needs and your life is simply a consequence of that. By no means am I telling you to give up, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Just be aware that what you think is your personality is simply an unconscious construct leading you towards that next chocolate chip.
posted by The Rube at Wednesday, August 24, 2005
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