I saw a documentary a few years back on meditation. They had this guy on it who was like a master mediator. Been doing it since a young age. Anyway they told him to go into his trance while they scanned his brain. The area of the brain for pleasure was off the radar. Interesting I thought. So there is science behind it.
Enlightenment, Will It Be A Rather Common Experience In The Future?
by Brokeback Watchtower 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Brokeback Watchtower
Joe,
Thanks for bringing in a sorta reward system activation to the topic. And a possible debate about Freud verses Alder and Jung verse a combination of both of them.
I think it is in our evolution to explore as deep as possible into this present reality and come to some sort of conclusion about what is meaning and it may be a controlling algorithm in human intelligence, even despite the pain such an exploration may enclude. What will artificial intelligence conclude?
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Xanthippe
BW it does strike me that after 2 1/2 thousand years of philosophy and a hundred years of psychotherapy we don't seem to have worked out what makes humans really happy. I don't like the ideas of messing with brains chemically, too much damage is done by drugs already.
I find the idea of changing the wiring of the brain with mediation and mindfulness interesting. I've done meditation and ended sessions feeing very happy, the whole room looks more beautiful at the end of it. I've had a couple of 'peak' experiences, one during stress but one on a wonderful trip to mountains and lakes, looking at beauty all day.
The brain is fascinating, I just wish we could work out what it really needs to be happy. We were apes but we are more than that now, with very complex needs. Sometimes it feels like evolution has created a monster, one that is never satisfied, never content, you know?
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Brokeback Watchtower
The brain is fascinating, I just wish we could work out what it really needs to be happy. We were apes but we are more than that now, with very complex needs. Sometimes it feels like evolution has created a monster, one that is never satisfied, never content, you know?
I guess with survival of the fittest being the primary force moving evolution happiness and contentment are not in the dynamics.
The way I see it a sort of rewiring must take place and the Amygdala is the most important place to start IMO.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala
The amygdala (/əˈmɪɡdələ/; plural: amygdalae; also corpus amygdaloideum; Latin from Greek, ἀμυγδαλή, amygdalē, 'almond', 'tonsil'[1]) is one of two almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans.[2] Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing of memory, decision-making and emotional responses, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.[3]
Hemispheric specializations[edit] There are functional differences between the right and left amygdala. In one study, electrical stimulations of the right amygdala induced negative emotions, especially fear and sadness. In contrast, stimulation of the left amygdala was able to induce either pleasant (happiness) or unpleasant (fear, anxiety, sadness) emotions.[9] Other evidence suggests that the left amygdala plays a role in the brain's reward system.[10]
Each side holds a specific function in how we perceive and process emotion. The right and left portions of the amygdala have independent memory systems, but work together to store, encode, and interpret emotion.
The right hemisphere is associated with negative emotion. It plays a role in the expression of fear and in the processing of fear-inducing stimuli. Fear conditioning, which is when a neutral stimulus acquires aversive properties, occurs within the right hemisphere. When an individual is presented with a conditioned, aversive stimulus, it is processed within the right amygdala, producing an unpleasant or fearful response. This emotional response conditions the individual to avoid fear-inducing stimuli.
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JeffT
Be about it, not talk about it means, essentially, actions speak louder than words. This thread contains a total of 15 comments, 10 of which are yours. Five of those are basically (if not completely) videos.