Monday 29 October 2007

Censorship reason

The reason we have a censor mechanism in the brain is that physical actions have to happen sequentially i.e. one at a time in a particular direction. Data inflow though does not need this control but does need sorting and interpretation after the experience (censorship again or at least manipulation). The way I see it, action stops thought and thought stops action: It's one or the other at a time, not both - hence sleep, fever and contemplation disable the body but enable the mind to go wandering and wondering as consciousness, health and general activity allow us to explore the physical world but also in a sense trap us here. Autistic savants and even people like Einstein (and me even) are pretty inept at physical skills because of this situation but brilliant in those areas they apply their minds to

3 comments:

Hurlyburly said...

Hmmm. But why am i such an amazing dancer?!

This is interesting, i may need to read that a few more times because i'm not sure i completely agree. However, this does explain why England always loose on penalties! A learned skill can be repeated with no thought, but pressure puts you back into the feeling that you are performing a skill for the first time.

Anthony Peake said...

Like the idea of this. In my next book I have a section on what I term 'The Scale of Transcendence'. I review the implications of Henri Bergson's theory that the brain acta as a 'reducing valve' in that it restricts our awareness of 'reality'. The British philosopher D C Broad refined this concept. He wrote
"The function of the brain and the nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and otherwise irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive."

Indeed Aldous Huxley continued on this theme in his book 'The Doors of Perception'.

As I understand it your idea, however, adds something new in that you suggest that even time itself is an illusion in that everything really exists in a continual present (as suggested by the Hindu concept of Maya.) Indeed there are two book s worth looking at with regard to this idea. On is entitled 'The End of Time' by Julian Barbour and the other is 'Travels in Four Dimensions by Robin Le Poidevin.

paigetheoracle said...

Yes Broad has got the same 'broad' idea as I have on this subject and maybe this explains the need (or habit at least) of going over the same thing infinitely, until we've honed down the skill/ got bored with it (Think also of debriefing/ witnesses in court and interrogation techniques)