Me and my brain.

Once again I read Chris Frith's "Mind Building: How the brain creates our spiritual world," and after a deeper understanding of the word "mind," we continue to learn Charles Dushig's "power of Habit", Scott Paik's "Path of the few"-the journey of the mature mind. I have a higher level of cognition and deep feelings about my brain and my mind, such as "Li Yu time as a friend-using the mind to liberate", "the Way of learning", Candlewood's "trace of Tracing Memory", Daniel Chacter's "Searching for the Lost ego: The Brain, the mind and the memory of the past."

1. My brain beyond control and consciousness--it deceives me and controls my existence instead of me.

As a physical entity, I have the head, torso, limbs, and eyes, ears, nose, mouth and other organs, I always use one or some of them for the visual, listening, breathing, taste, but I do not realize that I am consciously using them, as if they spontaneously, not under my control independent self-action. It is only when my legs are weak, hungry, breathing difficult, and the silence around me that I try to control and consciously and strongly feel that I am using them. In fact, my sensory organs, such as my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and so on, pass on the information that they capture to my brain, my brain is the subject of direct acceptance of the information, and my mind is aware of these things that my brain indirectly presented to me. So, although as the subject of my brain, I find that I do not really own it, many times it is deceiving me, and I have no control over it.

As far as I can tell, the evidence that social scientists use to validate their opinions and conclusions is mostly derived from the self-description of the subjects, but the self-description of the subjects (the mind), we simply cannot enter their minds to verify. Fortunately, with the development of brain science, especially the appearance of brain function scanners (PET and fMRI), the research on brain-material entity has made a breakthrough. When our minds change, brain function scanners objectively record and present brain activity, and we can study the mind's activities indirectly by studying brain activity (I am a monism, so I think that all the changes in the mind are caused by the change of the object of the brain). Brain function scanners allow us to compare, imagine what happens in the mind and what actually happens, and whether my brain's activities are consistent. The brain as a link between me (mind) and the material World Bridge, damaging one of my sensory organs and damaging one of my brain areas, may cause me to lose one of the same functions, equivalent to let me (the mind) Unable to capture the information of the objective world.

It is well known that the nervous system in the brain is composed of nerve fibers that function through electricity, and when the brain discharges abnormally, the mind may be confused and ignorant, such as epilepsy is the result of abnormal brain discharges, and when the brain is damaged, the information that the sensory organs capture from the physical world will be affected or interrupted in the course of transmission. For example, color blindness cannot distinguish between colors, and when the brain suffers from psychedelic, the brain also hides from me what it knows, such as my drunken, confused but true independence walk back home, and even when the brain is perfectly normal, it can also create false information to deceive me, such as the nightmare that has gripped my mind.

The brain, as a bridge between the mind and the material world, makes my perception not direct, but also relies on "unconscious reasoning". Before I was aware of an object, my brain would infer what the object would be based on information from the sensory organs. I seem to perceive the world effortlessly, in fact because the brain, as a super-powerful "computer", hides from me the process of rapid identification and judgment. Unfortunately, my brain does not think about the physical world at all, it shows me only one of many possible interpretations of the world, and what it knows does not come into my conscious mind. About the fact that the brain is cheating on us, you can refer more to Liu Weipeng's blog "Escape From Your Shawshank" (ii): The benevolent see of the beholder? From visual illusion to prejudice.

2. Creative my brain-it creates the material world, the spiritual World and Me (mind)

Beyond the control and consciousness of my brain, in the end is how to predict the future let me adapt to survival? In everyday life, I realize that certain signals will tell me what will happen in the future, and some actions will cause something to happen in the future. Of course, this is not the information itself that predicts what will happen, but my brain is making predictions. So, how does my brain learn and learn to predict? First of all, from a biological point of view, neurons are the most basic signal conduction structure, the signal through the biological electricity from a nerve cell conduction to the next nerve cell, and the neurotransmitter is to complete the signal from the nerve endings conduction to the next nerve cell key substance, it can consolidate or weaken the signal transmission. Secondly, my study is to more accurately predict the future, to adapt to environmental changes to improve my chances of survival, if I based on certain signals to successfully predict the future, then the brain will release a neurotransmitter such as dopamine, enhance the nerve signal transmission, consolidate my brain memory; If the prediction fails, my brain will reduce the secretion and transmission of neurotransmitters, In order to constantly improve and improve my learning ability. Finally, my brain, through this linkage learning and rewards and punishments mechanism, discovers valuable things in the world and the actions I need to take to get them.

Everything I know about the physical world, including what I know about my body, comes from my brain. I easily perceive all the beauty and detail of the physical world, but this experience is precisely the illusion of my brain creation. In fact, what I perceive is not the world itself, but the world model in my mind. My brain finds things in the outside world by building a model of the world, and these models are not imagined. When I saw a tree in the garden, there was no tree in my mind, it was just a model of a tree built by my brain, which was established through a series of guesses and predictions. When I take action against the world, they can be constantly adjusted to provide the most probable sense of anticipation in my unconscious circumstances. At the same time, as I work in this world, my brain uses speculation about the world to predict what will happen next, so as to solve the cognitive problem. The mistakes I predict can correct my guesses until I have the right model for the outside world. I get my knowledge of the spiritual world (the mind of the other person) in the same way. I guess what someone's goal might be and then predict what they're going to do next. I guess someone is trying to communicate with me and then predict what he's going to say next. In my opinion, my connection to the spiritual world is nothing more direct than my connection to the physical world. However, this is not the case, and my brain has created a model of his mind, using clues from my senses and prior knowledge gained from my experience.

Why can I read your mind? My creative brain uses any available signal to build a model of the physical world and the mental world of the other, and creates a self-contained model of existence by hiding everything associated with the physical world and the social world. When you try to tell me something, my mind doesn't have your point of view, but my brain can once again build a model of your point of view in my mind through speculation and prediction. Now, my mind has my point of view and the model I've built on your point of view, and I can compare them directly. By building and comparing these models, my brain solves the problem of how to enter the minds of other people, enabling me to share knowledge and culture of others. In the course of my study, I constantly build models of other people's viewpoints and compare them with my views and adopt other models of opinion that are better than mine. Similarly, when I work in the world and interact with others, my creative brain uses these models to predict what will happen next. If our predictions about others are correct, then I have succeeded in reading the minds of others.

3. The power of the mind-control my brain for my use

When I see through the illusion of the brain and understand the working process of the brain, can I use the work mechanism of the brain to use it for me? The answer is yes.

In my unconscious condition, my brain controls my body, which is what people often call "habits." Habit is the process by which the brain takes over my control of the body, initiates and executes an inherent behavioral pattern at the right time. The unconscious control of the brain can relieve my complexity of body control and mind thinking, and let me focus more on doing and thinking about other more meaningful things, or I will become like a machine, even if I pick up a cup, and also think, calculate and control the hand and arm stretching direction, speed of movement, grasping angle, clenched force. However, the unconscious "habit" also brought me a variety of problems and pain, I always protect their "work", even if I know that it has no value, I also like to the success of the cause of their own subjective efforts, and the cause of failure attributed to the objective constraints of the environment.

On the neurological level, the operating mechanism of the habit manifests itself in a series of nerve pulses in the brain and forms a habit loop: hinting (letting the brain enter some sort of automatic behavioral pattern and deciding which habit to use)--the reward (the body, the mind, the emotional performance)--rewards (let the brain discern if the loop should be remembered) (see "The Power of Habit"). For a brain that is beyond my control, how do you make it a new habit or change an old (bad) habit? Accustomed to work in the form of loops, creating a new habit is going to make the brain a habit loop, because of natural selection and genetic evolution, my brain has the instinct of avoiding disadvantages, it is eager to reward and by predicting the future to build things in my mind model, so use the brain to predict the future of the desire (hint) to drive the habit of forming loops For old (bad) habits, they cannot be eradicated, and to change can only break the existing habit loop to form a new habit loop, which can be replaced by inserting a new craving to replace the old craving, allowing new habitual behavior to satisfy new desires to form a new habit loop.

I remember running in the past is a torment, always think that I was born to run is not good, and the fact that every run proved that I do not. One day, however, I suddenly found that someone who was thinner, shorter, and shorter than me took more steps than I did and had a relaxed face, I began questioning myself and observing his posture, learning his movements (high bounce, stride, long breath), thinking I could do as easily and as well as he did. Finally, it turns out that I'm a good runner! Since then, I have constantly hinted that I can run, and form a new habit loop through my usual behaviors and rewards. At the same time, I know that there will be a special period of pain in the course of running, through the desire for pain after the physical ease and comfort, and to achieve better results than others psychological reward, I constantly overcome the discomfort of the body, the inertia of thought, to achieve the success of self-transcendence.

Sadly, the habit is everywhere, but I am not aware of it. Habits make me strong, but it also makes me lazy. Liu Weipeng in the blog "Fish is the last to see water" in this is a profound analysis:

"If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. All things look like nails because people tend to solve problems in the existing framework, and more importantly, it is difficult to perceive the existence of framework constraints in this process, just as fish do not perceive the existence of water. The essential reason behind all this is that people have a strong adaptability. This proverb should serve as one of the motto of the problem-solving person: Ignoring the constraints of the existing framework can easily lead to sub-optimal solutions. Ordinary people obey the rules, the bulls disregard the rules, and the great men create the rules. To be able to ignore rules and even create rules, the first thing is to know the existence of rules. Solve problems in the existing framework many people will, difficult to realize the existence of the framework and break it. --think out of the box! "

Know my brain, understand the nature of the habit, break through the existing framework, control my brain really for my use!

4, the maturity of the mind--Beyond my mind emancipation

About "Mind", Baidu Encyclopedia (February 26, 2014 visit) so explain:

What is the mind: from the meaning of the word: "Heart" is the heart, that is, constitute an important organ of human physiology, its main function is for the body's blood flow pressure. (Similar to "water pump"), and the other layer is "inner", "inside", "inner" meaning. "Wisdom" is the meaning of "intelligence" and "intelligence". In short: The mind is the manifestation of people's psychology and intelligence. It is the innate nature of people and the non-acquired learning.

This is really what I disagree with, especially "it is the innate nature of people and the non-acquired learning."

With regard to the maturity of the mind, Li Huilai cited a good example of "time as a friend":

Long-term evolution has brought humanity to the height of today, but, at the moment of birth, the mind begins to evolve from scratch, in fact, with other animals at almost the same starting point. After a lifetime, it takes quite a long time to acquire the ability to use words through dull learning and repeated practice. With the ability to read, we can get more knowledge by reading and getting rid of all kinds of limitations. Then you have to learn the logic, the scientific way to think about the problem, then it is possible to grow into a real sense of the people-certainly a considerable proportion, definitely more than half of the "people" in fact, only half of the road has evolved to the extent of self-righteous.

Some people have not evolved, but they have become teachers. I can't imagine a picture of a big monkey teaching a bunch of little monkeys--what do you imagine the few little monkeys that actually have the potential to evolve adults in the future suffer? However, if you are precisely the afflicted with the potential of the small monkeys, must listen to my advice: first of all, those old monkeys, big monkeys, and doomed to always be monkeys, if the torture you, in fact, is not intentional, and secondly, those old monkeys, big monkeys, and doomed to always be monkeys monkey, There is no way to hinder your evolution, unless you are willing to be blocked by them and eventually become the same as them; in the end, if there is no accident, in your life no matter where, on what level, you will inevitably encounter countless old monkeys, big monkeys, and doomed to always be monkeys monkey. Don't be afraid, you'll eventually make a little monkey out and see what you are. So, it is not terrible to encounter monkeys, it is horrible because of hatred or disgust, abandon the self-evolution of the right and will, ultimately to death is only a monkey.

So, how can I and my "little monkey" evolve into real people and let our minds mature?

The key to life is not in the face of happiness and happiness, but in the face of misfortune and pain. The maturity of the mind is the ability to learn to face the pressure of fear, laziness, threats and love, to achieve a higher level of self-awareness. Life is a process of constantly facing problems and solving problems, I want to let myself, but also let my children realize that life's problems and pain have extraordinary value. The courage to take responsibility, dare to face difficulties, with a positive and active attitude to solve problems and pain, so that the mind mature. At the crossroads of my life, I deeply understand and clearly feel that the decision is so painful, panic, anxiety, indecision. But when I abandoned my family's concerns, my teachers ' advice, my friends ' advice, and questioned myself deeply, "What do I want?" What's my bottom line? Can I bear the worst of it? "and then I made the decision. I no longer worry about the unknown future, I am afraid of the failure of the decision, because I know exactly what I want. I don't know if my decision is correct, but I know I will never regret it.

In order to promote the maturity of the mind, I not only need to respect the facts, take responsibility, but also learn true love. So, what is true love? I've talked a lot about love, but Scott Paik gives me a better definition: First, true love requires that our conscious thinking and subconscious mind must be consistent, and secondly, that love is a long and gradual process that requires self-improvement and maturity; and finally, true love is to love and love others, Improve yourself and help others to improve (see the path of rare people-the journey of mature minds). In life, we also often fall in love (a temporary elimination of loneliness and loneliness of the subjective will, not long), dependence (because of dependence rather than love together, they do not care about the object of dependence, as long as someone can rely on it will be satisfied), self-sacrifice (unreasonable giving and destructive nourishment, To meet their needs in the guise of love), subjective imagery (claiming to love each other in their own sense, hanging on to the verbal, but not practicing), mistakenly as true love. In fact, true love must be devoted and devoted to all the mind and soul, with all the wisdom and strength, by listening and confrontation (see Fourth), to make the object of love grow. The person who pays true love should also treat the object of love as an individual, and always respect each other's independence and growth.

Your children, in fact, are not your children.

They are the children of life born of their desires.

They came to the world with you, but not because of you.

They are beside you, but they do not belong to you.

What you can give them is your love, but not your thoughts,

Because they have their own thoughts.

You can shelter their bodies, but not their souls,

Because their souls belong to tomorrow, and belong to tomorrow that you can't dream of.

You can do your best to become like them,

But don't let them become like you,

Because life does not retreat, nor does it dwell in the past.

You are the bow, and the children are the arrows that are shot from you.

Archer looked at the target on the way to the future,

He pulls you away with all his strength, so that his arrows will shoot fast and far.

With a happy heart, bend in the Archer's hand,

Because he loves the arrow that flies all the way, also loves the extremely stable bow.

                                          ——纪伯伦

5. Take control of me and my brain--the way of scientific research and learning

Before taking the campus, nearly 20 years of systematic study did not let me understand why study, how to learn? I mechanically in accordance with the teacher, seniors, textbooks and the requirements and steps to complete the established, the answer known practice, but in the face of life problems, I found there is nothing I can do. The last five years of scientific research have not allowed me to understand what science is and how to do it. Always think "do what others have not done, beyond what others have done", this is scientific research, is innovation. However, I can not overcome the fear of a small practical problem, why? Because my unconscious brain has always dominated me, instead of me thinking.

As for science and how to do research, I can only realize that scientific research is based on objective, measurable, repeatable perspectives, reading papers, proposing ideas, testing tests, and ultimately obtaining scientific results. Reading the paper is to accumulate knowledge and inspire ideas, while scientific experiments are to verify ideas and ideas. Unless you are engaged in pure theoretical calculation and reasoning and abandon the scientific experiment, otherwise, the thesis or the thesis makes the thought, can not be called the science, the thought does not have the Science experiment verification and the examination, simply cannot call the science. In the past years, I have been on the computer in the laboratory churn my assumptions, experimental design, simulation simulation, and give a reasonable explanation of the results. Blindly arrogant think, scientific research is through the computer design to realize that others have not done "innovation" work. But these "innovation" work has no experience at all, also cannot withstand the test of practice. My research inspiration is limited by the teacher's contempt for the experiment and the lack of his own practical experience. However, everyone has weaknesses and shortcomings, I will not be foolish to blame him, I need to take responsibility.

Why study and how to learn? I have already made the elaboration in "the first style", here I want to talk about is the study of the Dimension of the golden ("the Way of learning"), he was in chess and Tai Chi two of intellectual and physical fields have been far more than ordinary achievements, as he said, because he is good at learning. In my opinion, I think the way of writing the way of learning is also worthy of my study. Learning is a challenge and an innovation in thinking and action, and when it comes to practicing tai Chi, he says, "the body of a practicing Taiji needs to learn how to react quickly and how to naturally avoid the attacks of every conceivable attack, but the problem is that we are conditioned to become tense and resist the malicious power of attack." So we need to learn a new set of psychological responses to attack, rather than a superficial study of Taiji's moves. "In pain and persistence, he gained both psychological and physical benefits. He realized that "in the long run, painful failures are more valuable than success." Have a healthy mentality, can from each experience to have experience, such a person can go all the way down, and all the way is very happy. "The real challenge, of course, is to face danger or get hurt in combat, and how to keep that long-term, optimistic learning perspective." This is perhaps the biggest obstacle to learning, but it is also the core of the art of learning.

Finally, know and control my brain, this journey is so difficult and long, but also full of happiness and happiness! I really enjoy it and enjoy the feeling of "pain and happiness"!

Me and my brain.