Feats of thinking

The longer I live the more I am amazed by the power of the human brain. I could say that I’m amazed with humans in general, but that would be kind of like blaming the bullet for a shooting. The brain is the motor and hard drive (I love the way computer analogies have one-upped sports analogies); without it we are simply a shell. An easily damaged soft case.

I love reading stories about famous brains and feats of thinking. I find it funny that we are supposed to be shocked when we find out that some amazing cognitive discovery is made by a teenager or “just a plain, non-assuming resident of rural Texas”. You would think a midget had just dunked a ten foot basketball goal! Feats of strength are usually visible from the outside, but what we are capable of understanding is as obscure and uncharted as the bottom of the Cayman Trench!

But this powerful motor comes with no manual or operating instructions. Most of what we understand is taken in through our windows to the outside world; eyes, ears, nose, mouth and the nervous system. Our programming begins informally while we are still babies and escalates to regimented levels deemed necessary to “graduate”. Once we reach a recognized level, we are deemed trained, programmed, and ready to stand alone as a fully functioning unit. We are fully cooked, ready for show, on line and responsible for our actions.

Surviving this haze of programming has a different effect, and consequent outcome, on each individual brain. I don’t want to belittle my base of both formal and informal knowledge, for without it I would have set myself on fire or put my eye out long ago. But most of the real knowledge and free thought that I hold dear has come (and is still coming) at a later age. Some of it is rooted in a base of trial and error, both experienced and witnessed, but most of it is comes from a grading system of importance. It is a process of weighing information; what to leave in and what to leave out. This is a tough program that to date has many students and no graduates.

I climbed out of bed this morning fully rested from a great night’s sleep! Just another mid-week, typical work and school day. I sipped my coffee, checked my email, watched the news and walked the dog exactly as I have done for many years; I did say typical, right? But driving home after dropping my daughter off at school a good ten minutes late, I realized she left her water and lunch in the car. It was on top of the I-Pod she was charging to take to school! I guess I’m just lucky we have anything at all since I forgot to lock the house when we left! The brain is an amazing thing!