Random rant on the subject of brains and personality - or - How stupid monkeys, even you, can get smarter
The thing we call "personality" the "I" in us, is just a fluke really. Our brain was not really meant to be self aware, but it happened along the way ...for some of us at least.
If you try to define where the center of your consciousness lies, you probably will, like most, sense it somewhere behind the eyes. Kind of logical considering that the inlet of several major senses are surrounding that area and it is in close proximity to the computational power deciphering those senses. It is also, where thoughts seem to happen.
Being aware of that will eventually leads to psychonautics (the travel, discovery and observation of the inner self).
When the cavemen who painted the walls with animals and hunters, did he really understand that they looked nothing like the real thing? Was he frustrated by the lack of technique, being unable to truly capture reality? Did we have to wait for the likes of Rembrandt, to see reality mirrored in a painting?
Ask a kid when it draws a painting. It will perceive it as is. Not because it really think that, but because the relation between the objects has been overruled by the brain. The conscious decision - ratio and reason have no say. But point it out and you will start a train of thoughts of self perception. Of course the child will understand that a photograph is more the real thing, but the abstract use of the information does not differentiate. Why should it? If the thing we see on the picture on the fridge looks like a yellow bird, and it turns out to really show yellow bird as the subject of the painting, did we not make proper use of the information?
Our brains work with symbols and they like to dumb it down for us. They categorize, systemize and make little packages, so we can easily handle the input. We are inherently lazy and if it is possible to do it the easier way, our brains will gladly take that road. And that is more true to the less stimulated and/or less active brain. We even seek out symmetry, as it is easier to look at - thus more beautiful to us.
This is one of the reasons why human witness accounts are generally useless. We think, what we think we think. We believe, what we think we should believe. And most of it is for social compatibility. We are social and communal animals first and foremost.
Most of the people at work are not your friends. Yet, you often act as if they are and sometimes they will be, because you did start acting like they are. But most often, if you had a choice, or any say in it, most of the people you co exist with, you would not choose to cover your back when hunting mammoths. We choose spouses based on superficial proto human signals, not with the will of a free and independent 21st century mind.
What you think is you, is nothing but a very complex information filter system. It has several layers that exist so that only what matters to you, comes through. And what matters to you? The things, you think, you think are important. You are interested in fast and powerful cars? Why? Because you are the kind of guy, who would use a car as a symbol for power and potency. And you would go for the type of girl who thinks the same. The car is only means to communicate what kind of person you are and what it is that is part of your filter. It is like a compatibility test. Like humor. Like clothing style, favorite books, movies, music etc.
Three hundred years ago, for most people most of these things were irrelevant, because their compatibility was much clearer predefined by their lives. Filters can be very different and come in all types, shapes and forms.
It could as well be that information itself acts like a living being, like a virus, as it has been suggested with memes. But why not go deeper? Societies are shaped by common reality. Our ability to adapt means that we can pick up certain reality structures to survive. Why would someone who never hated anybody become an antisemitic nazi? Because people expect it and everybody is doing it and there is no reason to be found against it, in your imminent surrounding; because reason and responsibility have been cast out. So what is left, is to fall in line; and that is what most people do. We do what the people around us do.
Of course, you are much smarter and you certainly would never have become a nazi and probably would have started an anti nazi underground movement...
If you are not currently occupying some important street, wear a Guy Fakes mask risking your life (not because it is a fad), or try to boycott a whaler in the bering sea, you would do shit. Because if you'd be the type to revolt and risk your life in the underground to fight against nazis, you'd do something similar now - as, lucky us, some actually do.
The truth is, we are all far less skilled than most of us would ever admit. We are all much stupider than we think and we have generally no clue what the fuck is actually going on. All we really do, is sit in the cool revolving captains chair, fooling around like a four year old, pressing flashing buttons, while the spaceship actually flys on autopilot.
The reason why you think you have something like a personality - and lets be honest, most people really don't - is because your brains tells you that these "important things" are important to you, and so you pay attention to those things. You start to learn more about them, start to feel more and more comfortable with them and bam, you have a hobby, a skill, a talent, an interest, or end up sitting in a cult/religion/bierhaus and listen to your new best friend, as he tells you why you are more important than others.
Our ego is basically a filter where the subject is "me".
Should you find that understanding stuff and reading and sharing ideas and information is what matters to you, because your social goldilock zone is more in the intellectual range, you will start to figure out more. Simply by doing what your brain wants you to, paying attention to the things that matter for your prefered social range. Of course you will think it is you, but it is just yet another filter letting through very specific information that drive you to procreate - or whatever the equivalent for nerds is. I have not found out yet (meaning that my life is child- not sexless).
But hey, don't stress out about it. Accept, that by now, the complexity of the human brain, that has to create so many complex and deeply - often contradicting - filters, to separate all the information out there to the bare necessities, led to the phenomenon of a mind. [the average amount of information a person would accumulate throughout their lifetime 250 years ago, is about the same as two weeks worth of The New York Times - today, we are confronted with a month worth every day! ...and we haven't even started the real sharing of information yet]
Interestingly it seems that there is a big divide. On one side, people seem to get more and more stupid, while others seem to get really really smart. Maybe it is just the vantage point, but the gap does seem to get bigger.
Sure it is social inequality. Nurture matters much more than nature when it comes to brains. Even a genetically inferior brain will grow stronger and smarter in a nurturing and reinforcing, supporting environment, than a genetically superior brain would, without ever being used.
In the end, being smarter means you are using very different filters. Filters that yield meta information and deeper insights in the connection of things. But it is really up to you, to change those filters and use the ones that at least give you some understanding of what is going on, on this weird ride we call life. Believe me, understanding what is happening, is really fun!
Here is a very simple tip: act as if you are really smart. I don't mean you should run around and pretend you are smart while you make a fool out of yourself. I mean, do what smart people do. Think more, read, pick other hobbies than just hacky sack and beerbongs (or bongs). Broaden your horizon by traveling more and engaging in real foreign cultures. Appreciate more than mainstream stuff. Find a more mentally challenging interest. And most importantly, encourage your kids to do all that. It also helps, if your drop any idea or believe that has been around for more than 250 years. Chances are, it's total Bullshit. We knew nothing 250 years ago. Even the really smart ones knew basically nought. Most of what we know, we have discovered in the last 150 years and most of the scientific knowledge we have accumulated, is less than thirty years old.
And last but not least, change the way you handle conflict. Be kinder and less of a selfish dick, even if you might not sympathize for the other person. You don't need to love them (be of the same tribe like you), to give them way.
And and most importantly: Don't take yourself, anybody else, or life in general, too seriously. Believe me, it is, behind it all, very very funny.
You will see, if you follow my simple guidelines, you will become smarter very quickly. And you will also become a much nicer person too. Don't worry. You won't be hurt more when you are more open and vulnerable, you will only perceive it clearer and understand what is going on.
So while ignorance (or stupidity) is bliss, intellect is much more fun and much more rewarding.
