Building One Big Brain

The Article in the title of this blog Building One Big Brain appeared in the Opinionator Column of the New York Times on July 6, 2010. I have posted it in my Archive along with a companion article appearing in the New York Times dated Nov 21, 2010, entitled Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction. Click on ether title to go there to read it.

The first of the two articles caught my attention while I have been writing a fairly complex blog post I have entitled I Think Therefore I Am! I will post it as soon as I have completed it.

In that blog post I have been discussing in some depth what I have learned through my reading Particle Physics, science in general, together with a heavy dose of Cosmology and Buddhism, about the reality of existence.

In the same post I go into the manner our minds think and interact in the temporal universe occupied by us in our capsule of space and time. We think, we exercise this unique function of cognition with which we are endowed, to interact in this world.

The exercise of this function is both pragmatic, bent to getting the job done in the most accurate, quick, and efficient way. It is also common to the way all others with whom we interact do the same tasks. It learns to operate within that framework and as it gets totally involved in its assigned tasks. It has no time to do more than that.

In not using that function to do what is within our immediate attention horizon, being too busy to use more of these inherent powers of the mind, our minds languish until that unique time during aging where we are given to “Adding it all Up.” It is at that time our minds can re-awake to wonder what’s it all about?

That is the personal evolution of the brain as it leads us back to the Transcendence from which we came. All of those parts assembled in a lifetime are added up to be the step stool into interacting with the Cosmos. That is as I see it.

The article Giant Brain speaks of an altogether different anomaly of the same process. It speaks of Technology modifying our brain’s function to think in group rather than individually.

The second article Growing up Digital talks of the dangers to thinking in the technical framework. It is exhaustive in the breadth of its treatment of the topic.

I have been of the group opposed to any kind of group thinking. I call group thinkers “The Hive” as they operate. I characterize them as operating within the Cult of Mediocrity.

My consternation of thinking hive, doing the same as everyone else, destroys individuality. It stems creativity, and contains one in the confines of the group completely dominated by “We!” “This is the way We do it!” “We don’t do that!” “We don’t go there!” I have bemoaned the collective types Drones, worker bees, “I don’t have to think, therefore I don’t!”

I do not have the answer. I do not know what is best. Funny, it doesn’t matter either. What will happen will happen as much as I put my finger in the onrushing wall of water thinking it the hoe in the dike!

What I get off on in the end reading the first article Giant Brain is the wonder of creation, spontaneous generation, or whatever it is responsible for positioning me right now! Now finds me writing what I am thinking, right here, right now, sitting in my front room overlooking Minneapolis’ Downtown (See my toes in the lower left corner of the picture on the right. It is taken as I sit looking out!)

I exist in this dimension with the ticket to go to where it was from which I came (I believe) and carry out of here the good and the bad of my time spent (Karma).

At the same time while in this dimension I am part in the developing evolution of a common brain, made functional by all the rudiments of what we have become in living together in communication through all of our generations. All of what has been assembled is used to reach the goal of whatever that may be.

Stop here without the giant prognostication of what’s next? Reflect instead on our collective process of thought and we the organism collectively doing it.

In my study I have been struck by a number of events along the way in the development of what we all think.

I cite the following as but one example of the huge change that can occur with the change of mind occurring. In the course of the development of religious expression primeval man developed and early man believed in a vengeful god who required expiation as our form of obeisance of Him. (Translated, sacrifice to Him!)

Karl Jaspers theorized, Karen Armstrong in a book entitled “The Great Transformation” expanded this Idea, viz: Jaspers’ theory of Axial Age, that period 600 years before and 300 hundred after the start of the of the Common Era in which four great spiritual movements coalesced around the moral theme of Golden Rule, all occurring separately of the other, in different parts of the world. It is contended both by Jaspers and Armstrong that this event changed the direction of the religious expression of things spiritual commonly for all of man. No longer do we sacrifice to a god, we do good for each other.

We have built on that, everything from Jihad of the Muslims to Meditative Peace amongst Buddhists in community.

Many other examples exist suggesting the growing impact on us collectively as the power of cognition has developed amongst us. It could be discussed as evolution of the mind, pathological development of the mind, technical development of cognitive aids for the mind and we could go on.

Bottom line: What a wonderful gift we have to use. Makes you wonder where it is taking us. Taking us is one thing that’s for sure about it!