I, in my aloneness, part II – my bicameral mind.

July 16, 2014July 16, 2014 / Penny L Howe / 20 Comments

“introspectable mind-space”

At the risk of having lost a few of you. I’d like to explain the bicameral mind. Julian Jaynes explained this as a different, non-conscious mental schema where volition, in the face of novel stimuli, mediated through a linguistic control mechanism (we made sounds) and experienced as auditory verbal hallucinations. Passing from the right hemisphere of the brain to the left (the introspective thought). He referred to this as man reacting in a bicameral (two chambers involved in creating and accepting a hypothetical idea) manner. The right coming up with an abstract idea and conveying it in an acceptable way to the left side of the brain.

Okay, now having lost the rest of you, I’ll explain. I’m left-handed, placing a stronger emphasis on right brain thinking. Many believe “imagination” (and hallucinations) have their roots there. Point in fact, Julian Jaynes (1920-1997) was an American psychologist who referenced different states of consciousness (I’m simplifying things here) and how they interact with one another from the two halves of our brain. Beginning with the right hemisphere for the bicameral mind.

Most people are right handed which means that the left side of their brain is the dominant hemisphere. Being left handed I’m located in the remaining 3 percent of the population where the right side of my brain is dominant. But even more rare, according to several I.Q. tests conducted at an earlier age, is the possibility that both sides of my brain are dominant, in that they work and play well together.

This is a good thing. I think about everything and explore my thinking thoughts a great deal. And a bad thing, because I find everything has introspective value, as well as subjective.

This has created havoc my entire life, of course. Because almost nothing is viewed as linear, everything has a potential matrix with depth and possibilities attached to it. I’d have made a great theoretical physicist if I enjoyed math a little more, but I digress (another problem for me as I can digress – and do – frequently).

Bottom line. it is ever so easy for me to go to my “introspectable mind-space” and hang out there, quite comfortably. Imagination is real there – you see. And the range of possibilities and potentialities coupled with imagination is … well … frankly unimaginable. But most enjoyable.

Does this mean I’m smarter than the average bear? Absolutely! Does this mean I’ve learned how to use it to my advantage? Absolutely not!

You can see the quandary in which I frequently find myself. I know the answers to some amazing problems but have trouble explaining them to others.

So … what have you learned from this post? Perhaps that I am a comprehensible, multi-talented genius with special gifts of great import. Or perhaps that I’m amazingly long winded without saying a single thing of particular importance to you. If you made it all the way through, I applaud you. If you didn’t … well then you’re not reading this are you?

As for me I’m going to go hang out in my introspectable mind-space. Where all is forgiven and I am always well received.

Good Day!

~ Penny

An aspect of being … a human being!

May 21, 2013May 21, 2013 / Penny L Howe / 28 Comments

Is it not fascinating that we, human beings, are gifted from birth with so many working processes and capabilities. Attributes (sensory, mental, physical and spiritual) enabling us to embrace, with a wonderful fullness, the miraculous mystery of life itself.

Instead, many human beings chose to view life (at a distance) making judgement calls through the limiting lens of insecurity and fear.

They see life’s inconsequentialities (now that’s a substantial word isn’t it, especially when it means something so very simple – “that which lacks importance”), but they/we leap upon these trivialities making of them meanings of importance, building upon our (and others) manufactured fears instead of nurturing truths that lay within and all around.

But there you have it, the nature of the human “being”. Are we programmed to think so negatively, or has some portion of our “flight or fight” survival mechanism morphed it’s way into this state of being/existence.

I, for one find this a most undesirable trait and “state of existence” to live within.

May I recommend and strongly encourage you to consider a move – from this “state” of being to new territory. One that includes the richness of all that life has to offer. It’s out there, this vast unexplored (for many) territory of being. Yours for the asking, yours for the believing, yours for the doing.

Do not allow your mind to be “house bound” as the result of fears and misconceptions. Open yourself up and live. That is what life is all about, after all! But its still up to you to determine the aspect of your being, your choice – as always!

… In closing, beautiful and enabling words from a woman born without the attributes almost all of us take for granted; vision, hearing and for many years speech, yet she managed to overcome her adversities and indeed fully explored the richness of life itself. If she can do this, why can’t we?

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” ~ Helen Keller

~*~

~ Penny

Humanity, Spirituality, Science – *Never the twain …?

November 26, 2012 / Penny L Howe / 28 Comments

The Dalai Lama

If I were to tell you that I had met a brilliant man who has explored specific areas of science over the years – subatomic physics, cosmology and biology including neuroscience and psychology – you would be wondering what famous scientist I was referring to.

The Dalai Lama is no scientist and yet he has studied each of these specific areas of science because he believes that “spirituality and science are complementary if different investigative approaches with the same goal of seeking the truth” These words are his words not mine taken from a direct quote from his book “The Universe In a Single Atom” – The Convergence of Science and Spirituality.

Prior to meeting him (very very briefly) a few years ago, I would not have believed it. And yet it is what he believes. One area of interest is with the workings of the human brain and when I met him in Washington D.C. he was, later on that week, meeting with a group of scientists to discuss this same topic.

He believes that in today’s world true modernization lies through the introduction of modern education which at the essence is knowledge of science and technology. To that end he has encouraged even monastic colleges to include science into their curriculum.

He believes very strongly that there is a close connection between our conceptual understanding of the world, our vision of human existence and its potential, and the ethical values that guide our behavior.

Further he believes that when science is motivated by a quest for understanding that seeks to lead us to better things and happiness then the partnership between science and spirituality is a good thing.

In the closing of his book he states “May each of us, as a member of the human family, respond to the moral obligation to make this collaboration possible. This is my heartfelt plea.”

If The Dalai Lama, one of the most educated and spiritually wise men on the planet, believes this to be true – who am I to doubt?

Thank you for visiting me today, may your tomorrows be filled with a thirst for knowledge towards the well-being of our human family ~ Penny

*And the partial quote in the title of today’s post is from Rudyard Kipling in his Barrack-room ballads, 1892: “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” The word Twain derives from the Old English twegen meaning two.