Actually that’s a bit of an understatement, Rather, Google’ can be viewed as a ‘wanna be virtual mind’. This is no criticism of Google. I find it’s efficient delivery of information to my fingertips quite extraordinary. But, you know? It’s efficient delivery of information to my fingertips pales in comparison to the extraordinary feats performed by/in your mind every day.
For all the neuroscience we’ve learned in recent decades, words still fail to capture what we are talking about. We hear folks say, ‘mind’ or ‘memory’ or ‘consciousness’ and we struggle to understand just what we mean by these words.
Let me simplify what I mean as I write today. Just as surely as programmers have been busy writing code to capture, classify and code all information uploaded to Google, so has your brain been busy capturing, classifying and coding all information received by you from a bit before your birth! Wow! That’s a lot of information.
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Yes, it is. And what do the IT (information technology) folks tell us? Our system uses keywords too. Sigmund Freud called keywords ‘associations’. I can say to you, ‘high school’ and voila! A lot of bundled information jumps to the foreground of your mind.
Think, just for a moment, of the amount of information your mind system has already processed. Think, just for a moment, of the amount of information your mind system is managing as we speak! Sights, sounds, smells, taste and touches all bring information into the system and require management.
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Your 'Phenomenal Mind’ is always working to assist you with the navigation of your life. Think of it as a tool at your disposal or better yet, as your new BFF (best friend forever). We will soon have quantum computers also capable of processing multiple streams of information backwards and forwards in ‘time’. But, those quantum computers will still not come close to what your brain-mind system accomplishes every day.
If you are now in awe of Your Phenomenal Mind, I have achieved my goal. By the way, hang on to that feeling of ‘awe’. The chemicals that accompany the feeling will heal much that ails you.
By Diane Kern Richardson, owner of Phenomenal Mind Studios in Walnut Creek, former college professor, psychotherapist and now, Instructor of Raja Yoga, the yoga for mental development. See www.phenomenalmind.com.
