I chose this topic as a fundamental start for any subject this blog will cover. Before talking anything else we must figure out why we are doing this, and set an essential perspective to the concepts of "mind" and "meaning of life (in next post)" in order to evaluate future concepts better.
Mind & Self
There is a big confusion and misconception about mind, self and spirit, soul etc... I will discuss things only through scientific information that is supported by solid evidences. So spirit, soul or any other belief products are none of my concern.
About "mind" and "self", many people think that we are our minds. Although I accept that it depends on what do you mean by saying "we" YET I think it is essential to understand mind is just a tool, a weapon that belongs to our bodies. Only then we can really understand human behavior and causality.
It is really that simple. Mind is just a weapon. Very powerful yet an ancient weapon. Well it contains all these modern technological stuff, learns, develops, invents and all but it still computes with the same principles as the human that lives in the jungle!
What does that all mean? Why do we need to know these?
Because this simple fact will make us understand some of the very important problems we have today. Just as an example, many of us suffer from social anxiety. Whether it is the fear of speaking in front of the public or the fear of approaching to a stranger. We are afraid to death of being humiliated or making ourselves look stupid. Always seeking approval. All these fears sounds like a modern human problem though none of those fears are actually beneficial for us today. Why do we have these fears then? When people used to live in the jungle, human as a social creature had to be accepted by the others. Had no chance surviving and reproducing alone. These cowardly behaviors were very beneficial to us then.
Our brains, so our minds have evolved and made us able to think like we do today. If you make some research about the human brain you will find our that it has different layers for different purposes. In the very core we have a layer known as reptilian brain which takes its name from the similarity to the brains of reptiles. It's responsible for primal functions that reptiles also have like heart beat. Cortex (outermost layer) is responsible for the thinking and processing the information. This is where the magic happens, it makes us human. You see a woman in the street, she is very beautiful and you' re attracted. It has nothing to do with cortex. Why you are attracted is to fuck her and reproduce. But cortex says "Stop! Do not try to fuck her right here! You will go to jail and it isn't the way to survive and reproduce. First you should make her want to fuck you too.". Ego is also in the cortex. It associates information by reasoning. Your self image is there. It tries to enhance that self image in every way possible in order to make you more valuable in hierarchical social structure and increase your chance to survive and produce once again.
Happy Mind?
Another important fact, mind doesn't give a fuck about if you are happy or not. Actually happiness (associated hormones) is just a tool that mind uses to make your body survive and reproduce. I will dive in deeper in happiness concept in the next post.
Humanity developed a lot. Our life changed drastically in a very very short amount of time when you compare it to evolutionary processes. Our minds (brains) had no chance to keep up with this social and technological development. That's why it became dysfunctional. We are suffering because of having this ancient yet powerful weapon that belongs to jungle life in our modern, secure, monotony life. I don't even mention to all these manipulations aimed at our poor minds.But still it's our responsibility to understand the mind and make the right choices to ensure ourselves the most healthy, happy and meaningful life possible.