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I've come to realize that "I" am just a small part of the brain. A virtual machine running on top of the primitive host. Every single second is a struggle over
by bserge 6y ago
I've come to realize that "I" am just a small part of the brain. A virtual machine running on top of the primitive host.
Every single second is a struggle over the who gets control of the hardware, and most of the time the host wins.
What "I" want and what the primitive host brain/OS wants are 2 completely different things. Food, shelter, reproduction. That's all it needs. Needless to say, "I" want so much more.
Of course, what everyone else sees as "me" is the body/machine. We are one in the eyes of other people, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
- hkt 6y ago"I'm just a passenger in my brain, and the body's job is to ferry me between meetings" Misquoted from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- 0-_-0 6y agoAmazing description! HN paid off for today :)
- scns 6y agoJonathan Haidt used the metaphor of rider and elephant in The Happiness Hypothesis (worth the read IMHO): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happiness_Hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happiness_Hypothesis One commenter on HN once wrote, that meditation helps him more than the stimulants. The ten stages of meditation (https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ten-stages-of-meditation-illustration.jpg https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/wp-content/uploads/201...) depicts the mind as an elephant too. It gets distracted by the ape mind (look! shiny!) in the beginning. If you want to start meditation, get the book that has been recommended here before: Mind Illuminated by John Yates
- datameta 6y agoI would like to heartily second the recommendation of Mind Illuminated. John Yates aka "Culadasa" is a neuroscientist turned buddhist monk who was able to distill those cultural teachings into a context backed by modern science. I must confess I had read only the first chapter thus far but it is what enabled me to follow through with a daily meditation practice for 3 weeks, my longest streak as of yet. I saw great benefit from it (however as is discussed in the book - it may be better if the expectation of results is not the primary driver of one's will to meditate) and I intend to get back to the continued aid of this well written book.
- bserge 6y agoThank you for the recommendation, I will check it out.