Brain/Mind and Human Needs

It has been understood that the human always looks for causes to explain the world he lives in. Early in human history, humans understood the "cause" as "God" or Providence. Nowadays, science sneers at such beliefs, because science has understood itself as the tool to understand physical laws, not superstitious belief. But, what of human needs, as to the brain/mind?

The human not just needs to understand and explain the causes of the universe, which can be explained by the facts of science, understanding natural laws. But, humans need the ability to trust that certain results will come from their "world". That is, humans need consistance in some way to be predictable, so that humans can organize their life and "feel they are free" and not pawns of some natural force that is unpredictable.

Predictability begins to be understood by the child, as he grows to understand the world at his parent's knee. The parent is "god" in the sense that the parent trains the child to predict what will happen if certain behaviors are done or left undone. This breeds a sense of security in the child as the child understands himself and the world as a predictable place.

Humans do not fare well in natural disasters, human tragedy, or other types of "irregularity" in their "world". It traumatizes the human to experience such disruptions to the regularities fo life. It breeds anxiety and some experience the effects of Post Traumatic Stress.

When the child grows to be a teen, he begins to understand that the law, which guards the socety, which he is a part of, also is predictable. If you transgress, then there are costs. The law maintains social order, so the teen can understand what is expected from him in his society.

The adult comes to understand that though the law protects the social order, life isn't nice and neat, like reaping and sowing, but results , sometimes, in human tragedy that is unpredictable, and sometimes disorienting. Such tragedies should never be judged as getting what one deserves, but understanding that life isn't as predictable as one once thought.

Humans do need predictability, and this is when those that are prone to authoritarianism are prone to believe judgment is always the best way to treat such offenses. Otherwise, "the community" and soceity would go to "pot". These are anxious about protecting and defending what they deem as "absolute", and sometimes these people use 'God" to enforce their positions.
Others think that compassion is a better way to express solidarity in life. No longer is it necessary to protect oneself from unpredictability, by control, nor to defend "God's order", nor is it necessary to affirm oneself in comparison to another. One has come to a point of understanding that life, and living are much more than a certain choice, that causes certain consequences. But, that life has parallel universes that produce different realities, this is true, but that life can be embraced, no matter which "world" one has chosen.

Brain, Mind, Emotions, and Memory Response and Living in the Real World

Last night my husband and I watched a movie with Morgan Freeman. His moives usually have some meaning or message, and they are usually good. We thought we might be "headed to see" some B rated movie, as we'd gotten several movies from Sam's Club for under $5. But, we were delightfully surprised!

The movie was about two serial killers. Morgan Freeman was a forensic psychologist from D.C. who travelled to the Triangle Park, N. C. area to help the police there find the suspected killer. He had a "dog in the fight", as his neice had been missing for several weeks.

To make a long story short and to get to my point, the movie was intensely suspenseful and just when you thought that the movie was solved, there was another "crook in the road"..This led to an emotional connection with the movie unlike most. And the post traumatic stress that the main escapee suffered was experienced alongside her.

In my sleep, I kept having dreams as if the situations had happened to me; whispering in my ear from the murderer, running away from the killer, etc. This led to a fitful night and waking up several times to realize "it was only a dream".

I had not eaten anything out of the ordinary last night and had gone to bed as usual. So, there should've been nothing that would have made my sleep different, except for the movie.

My unprofessional and "scientific" suspicion is that my emotional connectedness to the movie led me to an emphathetic response. I had experienced the situation personally.

Is this not what we experience with those we feel connected to when they suffer? Our emotional connection leads us to justify their misfortunes, reach out to help, and understand their weaknesses.

I think that our reason is useful to help us function in the world without collapsing into a "pool of emotion". What good would that do? So, our reason help us rationalize our lives so that we live reasonably, not emphathetically. We cannot "love humanity", as that is an 'ideal" and ideals have to be defined and practically understood for there to be real meaning and purpose.

This is where we play out our lives committed to certain values which are prioritized accordingly. We live rationally, according to our values.

And I believe that values are a culmalative conglomoration of different experiences, individual personality and interests. Therefore, universals do not exist in the real world, only "ideals" that are manifested differently.

A Question of Faith

We are in D.C. again with students. I love to see the students experience "new things", as I enjoy seeing others learn, as well as learning myself.

In light of my love for learning, yesterday we went to the L.Ron Hubbard house to take a tour. For those that don't know who he is, he was the founder of "Scientology", a mind/thought/spirit cult. My husband and I were the only ones there to take the tour and the tour guide was a young man who had grown up in the cult. Before reading more about "Scientology" after getting back to our room, I was intrigued with his presentation. But, honesty is not the best policy when coming to marketing a cult, nor is it "important" when others seek to subvert "righteousness". Real motivations take time to evaluate.

Scientologists believe that one can "control persons, environments, and organizations". When I inquired about this quote of Hubbard's, as it concerned me. Our tour guide explained that "controlling others was not really about coercion, as giving them what they want'. It is, in other words, manipulation, marketing, and dominating another for the purposes of one's own agenda. After, reading more on the internet about many nations wanting to outlaw this cult, I became convinced that the "jargon" that was given to us in the tour was only a means of luring someone into a "cultish mentality". But, their marketing scheme is under the name of "rationality". There were many "truths", which do "work", but at what costs?

Scientology has infilterated business training, education, and healthcare to mention only a few. They have a hierarchal "scheme" of promotion in the "processing' (trainee) and informing (auditor). One is trained to "become" under the influence of another's "expertise" and advice. I find that this can be similar to some "discipleship" programs within the Christian faith. It is the "theology of glory" that Luther spoke out against. And it is really warmed over gnosticism, at least that is what it seems to me. I found it espcially interesting that the guide promoted Hubbard as a humanitarian, who was concerned about human rights, while he promoted groupism and a group think.

When we were about to leave, I saw another quote about trust, which I found interesting and questioned our guide about "naive trust" in a world that does not speak that language. Trust is something that should be earned, as others should respect proper boundaries around the "other", whether nation or person.

Dianetics is the "program" and it sounds so "promising", but practically, it is a dangerous brain-washing, which promises success, health, and "wisdom". These promises appeal to all men, who desire "power", but this kind of power does abuse the "law", whether the law of Christ, or the law of Moses, or the law of boundary maintenence.