Brain Musings & the Limbic System

Brain Musings & the Limbic System

Limbic System in a Nutshell: “The limbic system (or paleomammalian brain) is a complex set of brain structures that lies on both sides of the thalamus, right under the cerebrum.[1] It is not a separate system, but a collection of structures from the cerebrum, diencephalon, and midbrain,[2] including the hippocampus, amygdalae, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex and fornix. It supports a variety of functions, including emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction.[3] It appears to be primarily responsible for our emotional life, and has a great deal to do with the formation of memories.”  *

The Limbic System, 1

As far as neurology goes, like thoughts and moods attract like thoughts and moods. You could read up on this, but long story short, this is largely due to your limbic system (which has to do with emotions, mood, and human relationships, among a slew of other things). Anyway, a happy person is more likely to think happy thoughts, and a sad person is more likely to think sad thoughts. Not exactly breaking news right there, but it’s literally like walking around living life wearing rose-colored glasses (funny how that works out) -- or the opposite, gray-shaded, rainy-day glasses.

This is because (largely due to the limbic system) someone in a positive mood is more likely to

• 1) notice more positive things
• 2) miss more negative things and
• 3) consider neutral things positive or negative things neutral etc.

And on the other side of the (emotional) spectrum, someone in a bad mood is more likely to

• 1) notice more negative things
• 2) miss more positive things and
• 3) consider neutral things negative or positive things neutral etc.

This is also why it’s significantly harder to bring someone in a good mood down or raise the spirits of someone down in the dumps. As with anything else, this sort of becomes a cycle/loop that can feed itself in one direction (+) or another (-). This principle also applies to things like social behavior and habits or abilities in general. For example, loneliness could lead to self-isolation (as opposed to increased sociability), which can in turn breed more loneliness etc. Or, speaking publicly could increase speaking confidence, and thus lead to more talking and conversationality in general, and so on and so forth.

Here’s a little more if you don’t quite get it yet...

[Scumbag Brain]: when sad and/or crying, your brain is more likely to recall or notice sad events or memories, thus exacerbating said sadness/crying. ☺

Not exactly rocket science here since it actually makes a lot more sense than you’d expect.

>> It literally IS “all in your head”. . . !

Musing: Your brain is an organ

...just like your heart, lungs, and spleen, your brain is plastic and can be changed (for better or for worse), just as smoking can (and will) damage your lungs, or drinking can mess with your liver. You know the saying “you are what you eat”? Well what about “you are what you think”? Because they’re both true. You are what you do, and that means food, thoughts, drugs, and activities alike!  

Musing: Your brain has a mind of its own

Do you remember The Four Agreements? Ruiz (if you still remember his name) talked about how it’s very possible to have (negative) thoughts that you simply don’t need to agree with if you don’t want to. Just because you think it doesn’t mean that it’s right. If you don’t like what you are thinking, then think something else!

Citations:

-"Limbic System." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.

*

- Ruiz, Miguel. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. San Rafael, CA:

Amber-Allen Pub., 1997. Print.

*

Your Most Valuable Resources

Your three most valuable resources are (in no particular order) time, your health, and your memory.

Health - your physical condition is precious
Time - your time on this earth is finite
Memory - a man is the sum of his memories

Start with your health, your physical condition. At best, you are healthy and physically fit. But that isn't a given, as it is also very possible to be unhealthy and physically unfit. Your health directly correlates with how you feel, both physically, and mentally. While we cannot control what we we are born with, we can control how we use and treat our bodies. Ideally, we treat our bodies well.

Health is then multiplied by the dimension of time. We all live our lives moment by moment. Some people live longer than others, and everyone spends their time living doing different things. While we can never know exactly how much time we have left on this earth, we can control how we spend it. Ideally, we spend it efficiently.

Our existences are then measured by our memories. As beings of consciousness, we are the sums of what we remember. What we have experienced in life becomes a part who we are, and what we do not remember at some level does not.  Ideally, we experience that which is worth remembering.

It Could Be Worse

What's the worst that could happen to you? Honestly, THE VERY WORST? Well guess what, it could be even worse. You could be dead.

What does this mean exactly?  Why is death the worst thing that could happen?

It doesn't really matter what you believe in, whether you are religious or atheist alike. Death is the final frontier, and where we (each and every one of us) are all eventually headed.

Death is not necessarily the "worst" thing, but it is simply the "final" thing. Once dead, no matter where you go, whether your consciousness ends up in some version of heaven/hell or simply dissipates into dust, what was once considered the "worst" thing then becomes insignificant.  Once dead, what you feel presently, right now, suddenly means very little.

To reiterate:
Heaven? as you are in a state of bliss, your previous pain means next to nothing.
Dust? as you can't even think any more, you can no longer even consider pain.
Hell? as you are in a state of eternal suffering, your previous pain pales in comparison.

"There is a time to worry, and now is not it." -Atticus Finch, to kill a mockingbird

In a nutshell? Pain isn't worth the effort. Get over your pain and enjoy living. Your life is precious and fragile, so there's really no need to waste it having a bad time. That's not to say that it is wrong to feel pain, just that it's foolish to stay in pain, when you could be having a good time instead.

Gun Control 1

shooting, media, guns, and blame

        The reactionary chain-of-events that follows a school shooting is easily foreseeable. First comes outrage, second comes the need to direct that outrage at someone or something, and third comes the outraged finger-pointing between groups and organizations. Note that the following are all actual examples of this: theists blaming school boards for removing the mandatory part of bible/prayer study ("taking god out of school"), politicians such as Hillary Clinton blaming the evil influences of violent video-games (she said this a few years ago, but the point still stands). Does anyone actually blame, I don't know, the actual shooter? Shouldn't that be the first thought that comes to mind? Is it so outlandish an idea for someone to murder another of their own free will? These days, I just don't understand mainstream media.
        Note also that I haven't commented on gun control itself (yet). Rather, the widespread reactions to such an event as the shooting.

YOLO

          YOLO stands for "you only live once". It is very much a more modern, slang version of Carpe Diem, or "sieze the day". It encourages boldness, rashness, and taking risks, without regards to safety or consequences.
          But I'm at odds with how this works. If you only live once, wouldn't you seek to [i]preserve[/i] your existence? You know, think more carefully about what you're doing, be a little more cautious, and possibly slow down a bit. But no. Instead, YOLO is rather ironically used to denote actions that are stupid, irrational, and/or reckless, such as driving despite intoxication. It's a good thing that there are many people out there, teens included, that realize the silliness of this word, and even poke fun at it. If that wasn't so, then I'd admittedly be somewhat scared for the direction our generation is heading.

Relativity

What do you believe? If you had been born in China or the Middle-East, into a multi-millionaire family or a penniless one, as a lovechild or an family of seven, would you still be believing the same things? The answer is no, of course not. You wouldn't even the same person.

People cannot control who they are born to or where they are. We don't choose our circumstances. Our circumstances are handed to us, whether we like them (our circumstances) or not.

Now, back to what you presently believe. Are you religious? If your religion is the correct one, then are other religions false?

Let's say for the sake of this example that you are Buddhist. In a hypothetical reality, you were born into a Catholic family and raised with Christian beliefs. And in another hypothetical reality you were born into a Muslim family with Islamic beliefs.

You would in each reality believe that your then-current beliefs were true, and that the other beliefs were false. Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

This isn't to say that belief is bad. Rather, this has more to do with dis-belief. It is fine to believe, but it is not fine to immediately discount all opposing points of view, especially when talking about religion. The definition of faith is belief without evidence. And as such, how is it fair to claim that someone else is wrong when in their shoes you would claim the opposite?

Religion is the big kahuna of belief, but not the sole example. Consider global warming, political opinions, vegetarianism, or what have you. People will tend to be resistant to other points of view, which is natural. But that isn't an excuse for ignorance. We must always be open to the possibility of being wrong, incorrect, or a little off. Being off is okay. But being ignorant and unfairly rejecting opposing beliefs is not.

Mind that there is no "us" or "them"; there are only "people" and "more people".

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