Cerebral Cells Are Playing a Game in Which the Exertion Involved Is the Pay Off…
Summary = TBD
Condensed News Items = See Below (OCR needs edit)
News Item Gallery = jcap 1999-10-25 (99122)-2438
Transcript = None
The News
COPYRIGHT 1999: JAN Cox
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WE RETURN TO THE DIARY OF OUR UNKNOWN AUTHOR, FROM AN UNDATED ERA, AND AN UNIDENTIFIED LOCALE, BUT WHOSE ENTRIES REFLECT A
READILY RECOGNIZABLE INTEREST IN THOSE MATTERS WHICH INTRIGUE SO MANY OF US HERE NOW.
OCTOBER 25TH: FIRST ENTRY:
I AWOKE IN BED THIS MORNING TO FIND A SNIPPET OF A MEANINGLESS CONVERSATION
I HAD YESTERDAY ALREADY RUNNING REPEATEDLY THRU MY MIND,
WHICH SO AGGRAVATED ME THAT I SAID ALOUD:
“OKAY, YOU CORTICAL CELLS: WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?”,
BUT INSTANTLY REALIZED AND FURTHER SAID:
“AND I THINK THAT IT’S ME SAYING THIS TO YOU
WHEN IT IS STILL YOU MAKING ME DO IT.
WHAT’S WITH YOU GUYS?! — WHAT’S THE POINT?!
ARE YOU ENGAGED IN SOME SORT OF EXPERIMENT IN PEOPLE LIKE ME? Ole
IF SO, THEN IT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OR MORE —
CAN’T YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GET IT RIGHT?,
OR ELSE GIVE IT UP AS A LOST CAUSE AND MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE.
…OF COURSE WE MAY LIVE IN DIFFERENT TIME FRAMES,
AND FOUR THOUSAND YEARS MAY BE LIKE FOUR MONTHS TO YOU GUYS…WHO KNOWS?
,,,BUT, HEY!, COME ON YOU CELLS,
CAN’T YOU SLIP THRU SOME KINDA CLUE TO ME UP HERE IN MY WORLD’1
….SEEMS LIKE THE LEAST YOU COULD DO
AFTER ALL WE’VE BEEN THROUGH.”
I THEN STOPPED TALKING AND LAID THERE FOR A WHILE….
BUT NOTHING HAPPENED….
I DON’T GUESS THEY HEARD ME.
SO I BEGAN TO CRAWL OUT OF BED WHILE THINKING HOW RIDICULOUS IT WAS FOR ME
TO SAY: “I DON’T GUESS THEY HEARD ME.’,
WHEN IT WAS THEM THAT MADE ME SAY THAT.
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WOW! – WHAT A WAY TO START THE DAY!
I’M UP AND OUTTA HERE,
UP AND ABOUT,
SPREADING MYSELF OUT,
AT LEAST AS WIDE AS
THE CELLULAR ACTIVITY ITSELF.
HEY, IF I CAN’T BE TOTALLY, WIDE AWAKE THIS VERY INSTANT
AT LEAST I CAN BE AS ALERT AND ACTIVE AS MY CELLS THAT CAN CAUSE ALERTNESS.
…(YOU KNOW, JUST THEN I STARTED TO SAY:
“To BE AS ALERT AS MY LOWLY CELLS THAT.”, BUT SOMETHING INSIDE ME STOPPED ME?!.
…STRANGE”? (AND NEED I PURSUE THIS LINE OF THINKING ANY FURTHER
TO MAKE NOTE THAT IT WAS STILL THOSE SAME CELLS THAT MAKE ME BOTH
CONSIDER REFERRING TO THEM AS, “LOWLY”,
THEN KEPT ME FROM DOING SO,
AND THEN MADE ME MAKE NOTE THAT I HAD CONSIDERED SAYING IT — BUT DIDN’T, AND THEN WENT ON TO WHERE I AM AT THIS MOMENT
TELLING YOU ALL ABOUT WHAT MUST HAVE JUST OCCURRED AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL IN MY CEREBRAL CORTEX?!)
WOW! — IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP ALREADY AWAKE,
IS THIS THE WAY TO START THE MENTAL DAY
OR WHAT?!
…HUM…WELL, LET’S SEE, GARCON…
FOR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING I BELIEVE I’LL GO SOUTH OF THE BORDER,
AND HAVE A SPANISH OMELETTE; CAFE CON LECHE,
AND A SIDE ORDER OF RE FRIED BRAINS, (AS COOKED UP MY MYSELF, OF COURSE!)
X X X
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OCTOBER 25TH; SECOND ENTRY:
MEN PONDER THE QUESTION:”IF A TREE FALLS IN A FOREST
WITH NO ONE THERE TO HEAR IT,
DOES IT MAKE ANY NOISE?”,
WHICH HAS MADE ME CONSIDER THIS:
WOULD WE BE “CONSCIOUS” IF THERE WAS NOT AN AREA OF THE BRAIN TO HEAR
THE AREA THAT SPEAKS?
AT ONE TIME I THOUGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS AS CONSISTING SOLELY OF
THE ABILITY OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX TO PRODUCE THE SYMBOLS OF WORDS,
THAT IS, TO TALK — IN OUR BRAINS,
BUT NOW I FIND THAT PICTURE LACKING —
FOR WE WOULD NOT BE WHAT WE CALL, “CONSCIOUS”
IF THERE WAS NOT SOME OTHER AREA IN THE BRAIN TO HEAR — TO BE AWARE OF —
THE AREA PRODUCING THE TALK.
AND SOON AFTER CONSIDERING THIS, I ASKED MYSELF: IS “BEING AWAKE” A CONDITION IN WHICH A NEW AREA CF THE BRAIN TAKES ON THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING AWARE OF THE TALKING AREA’S ACTIVITY,
BUT AN AREA FURTHER AWAY FROM THE TALK THAN THE ONE NORMALLY IN CHARGE!?!
SUCH A POSSIBILITY WOULD CERTAINLY FIT MY EXPERIENCES REGARDING THIS
UNUSUAL MENTAL STATE,
FOR WHEN I AM THEREIN,
I CANNOT SAY THAT THE TALK IN MY BRAIN HAS STOPPED — ABSOLUTELY — BUT/
MY AWARENESS OF IT,
IS SO FAR FROM IT
AS TO MAKE THE NOISE — BARELY AUDIBLE — SCARCELY NOTICEABLE.
FOR SOME TIME I HAVE BEEN UNCOMFORTABLE WITH MY NOTION THAT “THINKING STOPS”
WHEN I AM “AWAKE”, (ALTHOUGH THERE IS SOME VALIDITY THEREIN WHEN
COMPARISON IS MADE TO MY ROUTINE STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS) — BUT,
IT’S STILL NOT A CASE OF THINKING TOTALLY DISAPPEARING-WHEN I AM AWAKE,
BUT IS INDEED A CIRCUMSTANCE IN WHICH ITS SOUNDS AND EXISTENCE ARE SUDDENLY —
— FAR, FAR AWAY — FAR AWAY FROM ‘ME’, (THAT IS TO SAY):
FAR AWAY FROM THE NEW, NON-ROUTINE MEJ (WHICH IS, TO SAY):
FARAWAY FROM THE NEW AREA OF MY BRAIN, TEMPORARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE,
Now TO ME: THERE IS A PHYSICALLY-BASED,WORKABLE MODEL OF THE MATTER TO REPLACE THE OLDER, ALLEGORICAL ONES.
X X X
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OCTOBER 25TH: THIRD ENTRY:
AT ODD MOMENTS LATELY I’VE THOUGHT THAT,
OTHER THAN WANTING TO BE IRREVERSIBLE AWAKE,
WHAT I’D REALLY LIKE WOULD BE TO KNOW WHAT CEREBRAL CELLS TALK ABOUT
AMONG THEMSELVES.- OR WHAT A SINGLE CELL THINKS ABOUT:
WHEN I AM THINKING ABOUT STUFF LIKE THIS.
IT MAKES ME WONDER THAT IF YOU COULD “KNOW” AND FEEL, WHAT A CEREBRAL CELL “KNOWS AND FEELS” AS IT THINKS
IF SUCH AN EXPERIENCE WOULD MAKE ‘BEING AWAKE’ SEEM CHILDISH?!?
X X X
OCTOBER 25TH: FOURTH ENTRY:
IF YOU DID EVER ‘FIGURE OUT’ HOW YOUR BRAIN AND CONSCIOUSNESS WORKS,
WHO THEN IS GOING TO FIGURE OUT WHO OR WHAT IT WAS THAT DID THE FIGURIN’?
THE WAY I SEE IT NOW: GETTING YOURSELF TO, “WAKE UP” AIN’T HARDLY THE HALF OF IT — — IT’S JUST THE BEGININ’ OF IT.
How ARE YOU EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO COMFORTABLY THINK OF YOURSELF AWAKE”
IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE MECHANICS BEHIND THE EXPERIENCE OF — “BEING AWAKE”1
A PERSON CAN OBVIOUSLY BE SATISFIED WITH JUST HAVING THE EXPERIENCE, AND GO NO FURTHER,
BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IN SO DOING
THEY MISS THE HEART OF THIS WHOLE, WONDROUS AFFAIR.
BUT…AS I SIT HERE NOW, WITH WHAT I JUST WROTE, I AM DRIVEN TO TURN MY WORDS INSIDE OUT AND CONSIDER THIS; As OPPOSED TO WHAT I JUST SAID: MIGHT THE ULTIMATE IN,”BEING AWAKE” BE IN,”KNOWING WHEN TO QUIT”,
…PERHAPS AKIN TO THE MYTHOLOGICAL NORSE GODS KNOWING THAT THEIR CAUSE IS FUTILE, AND YET THEY RESIST AND FIGHT TO THE INEVITABLE END,
AND BY SO DOING, ARE NEVER ACTUALLY, “DEFEATED”, AND IN LINE WITH THIS, MY MUSING REGARDING A POSSIBLE, “ULTIMATE AWAKENING” WOULDN’T BE REALLY CONTAINED IN THE NOTION OF, “KNOWING WHEN TO QUIT”, BUT WOULD BE RATHER IN UNDERSTANDING THAT IN SOME UNDERTAKINGS,
THE EFFORTS INVOLVED ARE THE ONLY REWARD POSSIBLE.
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IF’ (AS I SOME TIMES SUSPECT),
CERTAIN OF MY CEREBRAL CELLS ARE ENGAGED IN AN EXPERIMENT’
(WHICH IS WHAT CAUSES ME TO, “WANT TO, ‘WAKE UP”, AS I CALL IT),
THEN MY PREVIOUS QUESTIONING OF WHY THEY HAVE PERSISTED WITH IT FOR SO LONG, WITHOUT APPARENTLY ACHIEVING ANY SATISFACTORY RESULTS — IS ANSWERED (TO WIT): THEY ARE PLAYING A GAME IN WHICH THE EXERTION INVOLVED IS THE PAY OFF.
….AND THEY UNDERSTAND THIS’ ….AND I’M JUST BEGINNING TO!!