God is in the Neurons

This is easily my favorite video of the year. As if a video about psychology and collective consciousness that mentions quantum mechanics isn’t good enough: Some of the topics are hauntingly relevant to difficult discussions I’ve been having with friends and family recently. Nearly all of the concepts validate the theories and suspicions I’ve built on my own ignorant intuition over the past couple decades. This video gave me waves of existential appreciation that I can only describe as low rolling cry giggles somewhere just below my heart that echo through my head and usually give me goosebumps. Turn down the lights and full screen this one.

Notes:
• human brain, one hundred billion neurons (100,000,000)
• neuroplasticity
• any talent or skill via training

Part 1: Social Neuroscience
• neurotransmitter: norepinephrine – triggers defensive mindset
• limbic system
• politics of fear
• appreciation -> dopamine neurotransmission -> empowerment, self-esteem
• self-esteem, self-belief -> neurotransmitter: serotonin
• dopamine and serotonin

Part 2: Mirror Neurons & Consciousness
• normative social influence – basic human need to “fit in”
• Our moral and ethical compass is almost entirely forged by our environments.
• empathetic mirror neurons – connect us to other people, allowing us to feel what others feel; allows self-reflection
• We are in a constant duality between how we see ourselves and how others see us.
• When we are self-aware, we can alter misplaced emotions because we control the thoughts that cause them.
• Self-observing activates the self-regulating neo-cortical regions of our brain, giving us incredible control over our feelings.
• rationality and emotional resilience strengthening
• random reactions and lack of self-awareness causes frustration
• backward rationalization
• parallel distributed system
• “There is no specific center of consciousness, the appearance of a unity is, in fact, each of those separate circuits being enabled and being expressed at one particular moment in time. [ – Joseph E. LeDoux]
• direct modifications to brain: hemisphere separation, effects on perception

Part 3: God Is In The Neurons
• voltage, ions, electrical signals, waveforms
• brainwaves: alpha, theta and gamma – task groups
• Optimal information transfer when neural activity is synchronized.
• Cognitive dissonance is the frustration caused by simultaneously holding two contradictory ideas.
• Will is merely the drive to reduce dissonance between each of our active neural circuits.
• Nature tries to ‘resonate’ with its environment and has evolved to become self-aware. (Sentience)

Part 4: I am Athene
• The mirror neuron does not know the difference between it and others
• left hemisphere – coherent belief system, continuity
• right hemisphere – counter-balancing with constant challenge to status quo, attempts revisions of world view
• The convergence of neural interaction expresses itself as consciousness.
• At every moment, we are, in fact, a different image.
• When we use our mirror neurons to look at ourselves we may construct the idea of identity.
• We are equally the result of cerebral hemispheres interacting electrochemically, as we are of the senses connecting our neurons to other neurons in our environment.
• Nothing is external. I love this.
• Over time, the neocortical regions evolved to permit the modulation of primitive instincts and the overriding of hedonistic impulses for the benefit of the group.
• Our selfish genes have come to promote reciprocal social behaviors in superorganismal structures, effectively discarding the notion of ‘survival of the fittest’. This is ridiculous; ‘survival of the fittest’ still applies but now applies (as it always should have) to superpositions of all organisms and superorganismal structure.
• selfish tendencies
• flawed paradigm of identity
• What we are: a momentary expression of an ever-changing unity with no center.
• The psychological consequences of this as an objective belief system allow self-awareness without attachment to the imagined self, causing dramatic increases in mental clarity, social conscience, and what’s often described as ‘being in the moment’.
• narrative, diachronic view on life, to establish moral values
• alternative: more accurate, ethical and meaningful paradigm
• traditional tendencies: towards dysfunctional processes, compulsive labeling, imposed expectations
• practical labeling is acceptable
• By psychologically labeling the self as internal and the environment as external, we constrain our own neurochemical processes and experience a deluded disconnection.
• growth, happiness, fulfillment, not being labeled
• acceptance, without judgement, acknowledgement, accept rationally verified belief systems
• Stimulating this type of neural activity and interaction alleviates the need for distraction or entertainment and creates cycles of constructive behavior in our environment.
• obesity, smoking, emotions, ideas, electrical signals of neurons, synchronization
• We are a global network of neurochemical reactions. And the self-amplifying cycle of acceptance and acknowledgment, sustained by the daily choices in our interactions, is the chain-reaction that will ultimately define our collective ability to overcome imagined differences…

Epilogue
• quantum mechanics, reality, probabilities instead of certainties, anything is possible, pattern recognition, bias, clarity, reasonability
• By observing this process, we expand our awareness and enhance our free will.
• With openness and skepticism, the key principles of the scientific method, we don’t need decades of trial and error to sort out which of our convictions may be improbable. The question is not whether our beliefs are right or wrong, but whether or not being emotionally attached to them is more or less likely going to benefit us. There is no such thing as a free choice while being emotionally attached to a believe system. The moment we are self-aware enough to realize this, we can truly work together to figure out the real odds of what will benefit us the most.Reread this until your head explodes and you remember what it felt like to be a child in full optimism and appreciation for this world and our potential as a human race.

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