Chapter 11: Changing your Mind – the Seventh Sense

The previous chapter indicated that the thalamus, in using a system of lobes, intensifies or ‘collates’ the re-emergence of memories because the memories are ‘filed’ or ‘keyed’ together. In other words, the ‘net’ of different memories come together from ‘attractors’ that are (parts of the) the lobes, because a memory consists of a sequence of the contents of different lobes. The Mathematics of the Mind attempts to handle patterns, like these, that change with time.

Much of the following is necessarily speculative, but, from the Rule of Life, above, that only essential body parts are kept, the retention of the thalamus shows that ‘pooling’ memories by type are necessary for the efficient functioning of the animal. Secondly, the thalamus, I believe, plays an important role in tying the lobes together. The thalamus is at the centre of the hemispherical cortex and it makes sense that the nerves from each lobe, containing the action potential of the memory contained in each lobe are linked together at the thalamus. It also makes sense that the parts of a memory from each lobe take the shortest distance to the assembly point and more importantly the same time so that synchronicity occurs.

The thalamus can be thought of as a ‘search engine’ or index to the ‘facts’ stored in the cerebrum and the result of a search is a somewhat normal distribution of results (about the required memory, because of creative thinking), as are found in computer search engines. The thalamus contains a map or index of the knowledge stored in the cortex and a signal passes a particular neuron in the cortex and the action potential ‘spreads’ through the dendrites of the following neurons and multiple action potentials return to the thalamus along the return paths of the memories stimulated. The strongest signal is the required memory, but other related memories are stimulated, and form the basis to ‘creative’ thought, because they are similar but only ‘segments’ of other memories.

Creative thoughts are caused by induction and/or additional memories, as above, whilst factual memories are already stored in two ways. Firstly, long-term storage is chemically ‘fixed’ in the cortex and changes minimally through the strength of the neurotransmitters. If not used regularly, the neurotransmitters weaken and the memory gradually becomes a part of the subconscious. Secondly, I believe that ‘registers’ exist in the hippocampus, which are the short-term memory (up to 10 years).

‘During dream sleep the brain is influenced by a different set of neurochemicals than when we are awake. During dream sleep the brain is cholinergically driven, while in waking consciousness it is driven by aminergic neurotransmitters, like norepinephrine and serotonin.’ (Memory and Dreams, George Christos, p 53) Clearly, during dream sleep the brain chemistry changes and something unusual is happening. It appears that memories are being laid during dream sleep.

Over evolutionary time, organisms tended to feed at certain optimal times, and at other times, were at a greater disadvantage due to changes in light intensity etc, so, logically they hid at these times. This also provided an opportunity for the body to repair itself and also to update the brain. However, from above, two states of the brain exist so in humans the brain uses the normal aminergic neurotransmitters and the cholinergic system in dreaming. ‘These are used alternatively, and the sleep stages become less deep and the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) which indicates dreaming become longer.’ (p 107) This is logical, to my mind, in that as repair of the body is effected, more time is given to the brain’s needs.

The ‘registers’ in the hippocampus are the short-term memory. They are memory that has not been consolidated in the cortex. This process can take up to 3 years. ‘From studies of H. M. it appears that the hippocampus slowly offloads its memory to the neocortex over a period extending up to three years. In addition … the hippocampus may act as a temporary store of memory itself. If memories are not encoded with sufficient intensity and repetition, they might not be relayed from the hippocampus to the neocortex, allowing them to be forgotten’. (p 70)

From the Rule of Life, above, the method used will be logically simple but there is no turning back, so, if I outline a ‘simple’ method, the method used in practice will be that method or ‘simpler’.

‘Lucid dreaming research has found that dreams last for roughly as long as they appear to last while we are dreaming. (p 153) This means that the action potentials from the sensors are going to the cortex in the same form as they are stored in the hippocampus. I surmise that the action potentials go into a circular ‘register’ for each type of sensor and ‘circulate’ in the hippocampus. Remember that action potentials are relatively slow-moving at 250 miles an hour and a reasonably amount of sensory input could be circulated. The thalamus is at the centre of the hemispherical cortex, so (roughly) equal times are taken for an ‘offshoot’ of the ‘register’ to go to the cortex. The ‘offshoot’ contains the same action potential as that in the ‘register’ because it is the nature of a biological ‘computer’ to ‘hive off’ equivalent action potentials into the terminal fibres.

So, the hippocampus sends the action potentials of each sensor to the thalamus via a nerve fibre, which allocates them to the respective lobes in the cortex.. Going the other way, from some neuron in the same lobe grows a new (or existing) terminal fibre to the thalamus and then back to the register in the hippocampus. These constitute the wiring and the problem is how to match the content of ‘pattern of paths’ in the cortex with those held in the ‘register’ in the hippocampus.

Using the Rule of Life, above, the actual (or for our purposes, a possible) means of accomplishing the storing of the string should be (one of) the simplest that will accomplish the task. The simplest scenario is similar to a roomful of monkeys with typewriters producing (say) a sonnet of Shakespeare. The only method of putting a sequence of action potentials into the cortex is by iteration. The memories of many people seeing the same occurrence of an action etc will differ markedly in detail as police witnesses attest, and memories tend to be curtailed and specific in content. Clearly, the smaller the memory that is recorded, the better, assuming that it is adequate, because there would be some exponential relationship with length. Thus a simplified and truncated ‘sonnet’ is all that is necessary from the roomful of monkeys.

This sounds a little ‘far fetched’, but the growing fibres cause an ‘iteration’ of the action potential until the memory is ‘sufficiently similar’ to that held in the hippocampus. At this point, the connections from the hippocampus to the thalamus would be ‘pruned’, and the ‘memory’ resides in the cortex. When music is replayed or a scene revisited the process is repeated, but because ‘parts’ of the pattern can be reused as parts of new patterns, our memory of that music etc gets better and better. In other words, a ‘learning curve’ that gets better with time and repetition is established. At the same time that patterns are intermingling, the neurotransmitters are strengthening and the memories are strengthening. This is autobiographical memory and equates to remembering where food can be found, remembering herd members etc. In other words, low stress remembering.

postscript: the two paragraphs describe an iterative process of creating memories in the cortex, which is a more energy (and logically) efficient method than retaining action potentials, as mentioned previously. A similar method is used in the making of antibodies to viruses. ‘The first step in generating a specific measles antibody gene occurs in the nuclei of immature immune cells. Among their genes are a very large number of DNA segments that encode uniquely shaped snippets of proteins. By randomly assembling and recombining these DNA segments, immune cells create a vast array of different genes, each one providing for a uniquely shaped antibody protein. When an immature immune cell produces an antibody protein that is a “close” physical complement to the invading measles virus, that cell will be activated. Activated cells employ an amazing mechanism called affinity maturation that enables the cell to perfectly “adjust” the final shape of its antibody protein, so that it will become a perfect complement to the invading measles virus. (Li, et al, 2003; Adams et al, 2003) (The Biology of Belief, Bruce H. Lipton, p 8)

‘Chris Brewin and his colleagues have argued that there is a fundamental difference between the extraordinary flashback memories of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and those of ordinary autobiographic memory and have provided much psychological evidence for such a difference’. (Hallucinations, Oliver Sacks, p 242) I suggest that this difference is controlled by the level of the emotional ‘tag’ supplied by the amygdala. One would expect that memories of life threatening situations should be not only remembered but should be replayed at intervals, especially in like circumstances or similar geographical situations. It could be said that animals are in a constant state of fear of ambush and similar geographical situations should throw up mental reminders. It might be hard on the animal but it makes good sense!

‘If you listen in while the rat is acquiring new information, like learning to navigate a maze, you soon will detect something extraordinary. A very discrete “maze-specific” pattern of electrical stimulation begins to emerge…. a specifically timed sequence during the learning. Afterward, the rat will always fire off that pattern whenever it travels through the maze. It appears to be an electrical representation of the rat’s new maze-navigating thought patterns (at least, as many as 500 electrodes can detect).’ (Brain rules, John Medina, p 164)

‘When the rat goes to sleep, it begins to replay the maze-pattern sequence. The animal’s brain replays what it learned while it slumbers … Always executing the pattern in a specific stage of sleep, the rat repeats it over and over again – and much faster than during the day. The rate is so furious, the sequence is replayed thousands of times.’ (p 164) These two paragraphs appear to suggest that the experimental evidence supports the theoretical derivation, above.

The following is from http://www.sciencemag.org on April 27, 2007: ‘“There is a young student at this university,” says Lorber, “who has an IQ of 126, has gained a first-class honours degree in mathematics, and is socially completely normal. And yet the boy has virtually no brain…. When we did a brain scan on him,” Lorber recalls, “we saw that instead of the normal 4.5-centimeter thickness of brain tissue between the ventricles and the cortical surface, there was just a thin layer of mantle measuring a millimeter or so. His cranium is filled mainly with cerebrospinal fluid.”

‘”Scores of similar accounts litter the medical literature, and they go back a long way,” observes Patrick Wall, professor of anatomy at University College, London, “but the important thing about Lorber is that he’s done a long series of systematic, rather than just dealing with anecdotes.” ‘The most severe group, in which ventricle expansion fills 95 percent of the cranium. Many of the individuals in this last group, which forms just less than 10 percent of the total sample, are severely disabled, but half of them have IQ’s greater than 100. This group provides some of the most dramatic examples of apparently normal function against all odds.’

‘Lorber concludes from these observations that “there must be a tremendous amount of redundancy or spare capacity in the brain, just as there is with kidney and liver.”’ ‘He also contends that “the cortex probably is responsible for a great deal less than most people imagine.” “It may well be that the deep structures in the brain carry out many of the functions assumed to be the sole province of the cortex.” It has been suggested that the cortex has evolved to be larger in the ‘higher’ animals for ‘social’ reasons. Herds of animals appear to have a hierarchy that becomes more complex with evolution and presumably allows more protection for those engaged in ‘grooming’ the animals higher on the social ‘ladder’. This is in line with the paragraph above, that half of the severely disabled had ‘IQ’s greater than 100’. As an IQ of 100 is ‘normal’, it would appear that ‘severely disabled’ implies interaction problems with other people on an emotional level.

This seems to support the idea that the hippocampus has a huge capacity to remember facts that have to be remembered exactly (consider London taxi drivers), whereas the cortex is an integrating, forgetting, and inaccurate record, although the hippocampus is costly in terms of energy for maintaining storage.

“Hydrocephalus is principally a disease of the white matter. As the ventricles enlarge the layers of fibers above them begin to be stretched and very quickly they are disrupted, with the axons and myelin sheaths surrounding them breaking down. Even in severe and extended hydrocephalus, however, the nerve cells in the gray matter were remarkably spared, though eventually there began to be a loss here too.” ‘The sparing of the gray matter even in severe hydrocephalus could go some way to explaining the remarkable retention of many normal functions in severely affected individuals.’ This seems to agree with the previous that probably most of the ‘functioning’ is carried out in the gray matter, and the white matter is for insulated transmission of action potentials.

(D) The brain, as a biological computer, contains another ‘dimension’ that should be considered. ‘An interesting point that is often mentioned by people who use drugs is that they seem to have a different set of memories depending on their state of mind, that is, whether they are under the influence of a drug or not. (There is some experimental evidence to support this.) This suggests that people may lay down different memories when a different neurochemistry (induced by a drug) is operative in their brain, and these memories may not be retrievable unless the same neurochemistry is attained again.’ (Memory and Dreams, George Christos, pp 52-53)

‘The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a separation of circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid (BECF) in the central nervous system (CNS). It occurs along all capillaries and consists of tight junctions around the capillaries that do not exist in normal circulation. Endothelial cells restrict the diffusion of microscopic objects (eg., bacteria) and large or hydrophilic molecules into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), while allowing the diffusion of small hydrophobic molecules (O2, CO2, hormones). Cells of the barrier actively transport metabolic products such as glucose across the barrier with specific proteins.’ (Wikipedia, Blood-brain barrier)

Further, ‘there are some biochemical poisons that are made up of large molecules that are too big to pass through the blood-brain barrier. This was especially important in primitive or medieval times when people often ate contaminated food. Neurotoxins such as Botulinum in the food might affect peripheral nerves, but the blood-brain barrier can often prevent such toxins from reaching the central nervous system, where they could cause serious or fatal damage.’ (Wikipedia, Blood-brain barrier, Pathophysiology)

From previously, the Rule of Life says that living systems can be extremely complicated, whereas the logic becomes simplified. As an example of the effect that one common simple molecule can have, consider ethanol. ‘Ethanol acts in the central nervous system by binding to the GABA-A receptor, increasing the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA (i.e., it is a positive allosteric modulator). (Wikipedia, Ethanol, Drug effects, Short-term, Effects on the central nervous system) ‘A positive allosteric modulator (PAM) induces an amplification, a negative modulator (NAM) an attenuation of the effects of the orthosteric ligand without triggering a functional activity on its own in the absence of the orthosteric ligand.’ (Wikipedia, Allosteric modulator) ‘In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand (from the Latin ligandum, binding) is a substance (usually a small molecule), that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. In a narrower sense, it is a signal triggering molecule, binding to a site on a target protein. The binding occurs by intermolecular forces, such as ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. The docking (association) is usually reversible (dissociation).’ (Wikipedia, Ligand (biochemistry))

The blood-brain barrier has long been useful over our evolution as a defense against large molecules, but looking more closely at the ‘small’ molecules that can be let in, we find a ‘seventh sense’. Traditionally, the five senses are taken to be hearing, smell, taste, sight and feel in humans, and the sixth is balance. But do we find extra senses in animals in general?

‘Sonar has evolved at least four times in animals on our planet (in bats, whales, and two separate kinds of cave-dwelling birds). There are fish that have evolved the ability to find their way about using distortions in an electric field that they themselves create. In fact, this trick has evolved twice independently, in a group of African fish and in a completely separate group of South American fish. Duck-billed platypuses have electric sensors in their bills which pick up the electrical disturbances in water caused by the muscular activity of their prey.’ (The Magic of Reality, Richard Dawkins, pp 201-202)

So, what is the current perception of the ‘seventh sense’. ‘In the mid-1990s, for example, no less an arch-skeptic than the late astronomer Carl Sagan rendered his lifelong opinion that all psi effects were impossible. But in one of his last books, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, he wrote, “At the time of writing there are three claims in the ESP field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study: (1) that by thought alone humans can (barely) affect random number generators in computers; (2) that people under mild sensory deprivation can receive thoughts or images “projected” at them; and (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking turned out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation.” (Psychology Today, Is There a Sixth Sense, Dean Radin, Colleen Rae, Ray Hyman, July 01, 2000)

postscript: It is shown later that as we live, in my opinion, in a probability space with universe-wide entanglement from the Law of Conservation of Energy, and every source of energy and matter are (logically) entangled, but I hardly think that this logic has a capacity to carry human thought or wishes. Some religions believe in reincarnation, but I won’t pursue it here.

The following paragraphs satisfy the definition of ‘seventh sense’ in that the interaction of the creature with the world at large distance, but is somewhat less than many people would hope for. As listed above, the ‘‘evanescent’ wave – is special because the wave disturbance dies away very rapidly the further away we go from the surface’. This fact allows creative thoughts to be concentrated around the same subject, as evidenced by the use of lobes, or areas of storage of one type of sense.

However, it is possible that the ‘induction’ in our thoughts, referred to above, in respect of creative thinking may translate into some sort of ‘thought transference’ over a short distance such as ‘pillow talk’. The other two effects could be classed as ‘action at a distance’.

This ‘seventh sense’, to which I am referring, is part of the basic structure of the brain in mammals (at least from experiments on rats and humans), and incorporates a ‘tasting’ or ‘feeling’ of the environment at a distance. The ‘seventh sense’ that occurs in the brain comes through ingestion of chemicals as distinct from ‘survival of the fittest’ which is derived through the eyes, ears, muscles, reaction time etc. As animals feed through different seasons, weather patterns etc, the chemistry of the food changes and thus their memory and interaction with their environment changes. In extreme cases, such as drought, the fodder includes increasing amounts of ‘bitter herbs’ with increasing phytotoxins which could (possibly) change the individual’s thinking from the ‘herd thinking’ to ‘survival of the individual’ and thus a radiation to other niches.

“The psychiatrist Ronald K. Siegal holds that all creatures, from insects munching psychoactive plants to human children playing spinning games to get dizzy, have an inborn need for intoxication. He writes, “This behavior has so much force and persistence that it functions like a drive, just like our drives of hunger, thirst, and sex”. Do we, in fact, have an innate drive to alter the function of our brains? And if so, why?’ (Pleasure, David J. Linden, p40)

In particular, the recreational drugs affect a number of neurotransmitters. ‘Cocaine and amphetamine act on the dopamine system…. ecstacy acts on the serotonin system… heroin and other opium-related substances act on the mu and delta opoid receptors. Alcohol works through GABA A receptors and through the NMDA glutamate receptors. (Looking for Spinoza, Antonio Demasio p 123) ‘All of these accounts report a remarkably uniform set of changes in the body – relaxation, warmth, numbness, anesthesia, analgesia, orgiastic release, energy. Again it makes no difference whether these changes actually occur in the body and are conveyed to somatosensing maps, or are directly concocted in these maps, or both.’ (p 122)

After four chapters on the mind/brain, I hope that I have shown that the Rule of Life is a good working model, and that, whilst the chemistry is complicated, the logic is simplified and the next chapter will show how there is no turning back and our bodies do the best that they can by building on the past.

Chapter 9: The Brain and Mind

If the brain is a component, is the entire nervous system a component? In general, we know that people have little problem with their nervous system, so the question is, is it capable of doing whatever is asked of it? Why is knowing how ‘robust’ the nervous system is, so important. The answer is that from the Mathematics of the Mind, the solution to patterns is the prediction, and the prediction requires that the underlying assumptions are robust enough to support the predictions.

‘7-31: the alpha motor system also routes most of its impulses through the cerebellum, where voluntary actions are integrated with information coming from the special senses and the proprioceptors.’ (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, p 240) There is no part of the nervous system where activity is more brisk. There is not a sensory event in the body that is not evaluated, nor a motor event that is not monitored by the cerebellum. No signals originate here, but almost all pass through at one stage or another on their way to becoming behavior.’ (p 241)

A personal observation might be the best ‘proof’. As part of my anti-aging program and social scene I spend as much time as I can dancing Salsa, Rock’n’Roll, ballroom etc at a fast pace (and high level, I believe) with hyper-active young ladies. I find it very difficult to believe that someone of my age (70+ years) can do this with no problems, and at such speed. The point that I wish to make is that I do not know (consciously, that is) what moves I have done or what moves I will do. If I want to do a particular move, I hold it in my conscious mind and when dance and floor conditions allow it to be done, it will be done, unconsciously (not subconsciously, as will be explained later). Further, my field of vision only takes in the other dancers and the move is set in motion when it can be done so as to keep my partner out of other dancers way. It really is a strange experience!

There are few ladies that will move at that speed, but the few that do, like the complements that they receive! The point is that the two of us are doing separate steps, our hands are finding each others without fail and apart from navigating around the floor, we are part of the patterns of the music, the steps and each others movements, as well as avoiding the other dancers, all at top speed. This shows that the gamma system can handle whatever is thrown at it (provided that it is given time to grow the ganglions!). This ‘proof’ is a bit ‘rough’ but I am sufficiently satisfied with it to press on! Another example, is that I play the guitar in the classical way with the left hand fingering the strings, the right hand using five fingers to pluck the strings and the voice to sing the words of the song. The body is truly a marvelous machine, and does what is required of it, albeit with a lot of practice!

This example points to how animals (including us) function on a basic level. Our body moves as much as possible into an automatic system, leaving some part of the mind to always be able to make decisions, or in other words, to be conscious. Consciousness has been with organisms for a long time and the physics of it is explained in the next chapter.

Each animal obviously has within itself the ability to cope with change, otherwise it (and probably the species) is on the verge of extinction. This ability to adapt is a fundamental factor of life. It is why we have developed two sexes, it is ‘need it, grow it’, that it is the converse of ‘use it or lose it’, it is why species exist for long periods, and it leads animals, like ourselves to have to change. But we now have the chance to move to ‘Survival of the Best’ or risk dropping back into the ‘dog eat dog’ situation of Survival of the Fittest.

The thalamus ‘is a midline symmetrical structure within the brains of vertebrates including humans, situated between the cerebral cortex and midbrain. Its function includes relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, along with the regulation of consciousness, sleep and alertness.’ (Wikipedia, Thalamus)

‘The cerebrum is the newest structure in the phylogenetic sense, with mammals having the largest and most well developed among all species. In large mammals, the cerebral cortex is folded into many gyri and sulci, which has allowed the cortex to expand in surface area without taking up much greater volume…. The neural networks of the cerebrum facilitate complex behaviors such as social interactions, thought, judgement, learning, working memory, and in humans, speech and language.’ (Wikipedia, Cerebrum, Composition)

Using the Rule of Life, above, that body logic will be simple, the rule is also invoked by the body running two (or more) logical functions through the same organ. In the thalamus, I am concerned only with the relaying of sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, at the moment). ‘The cerebral cortex is the layer of the brain often referred to as gray matter. The cortex (thin layer of tissue) is gray because nerves in this area lack the insulation that makes most other parts of the brain appear to be white. The cortex covers the outer portion (1.5mm to 5mm) of the cerebrum and cerebellum.’ (About.com, Education Biology, Cerebral Cortex, Regina Baily) ‘The living brain is very soft, having a consistency similar to soft gelatin or soft tofu’ (Wikipedia, Human Brain, Structure)

‘Because of its large number of tiny granule cells, the cerebellum contains more neurons than the rest of the brain put together, but it takes up only 10% of total brain volume. The number of neurons in the cerebellum is related to the number of neurons in the neocortex. There are about 3.6 times as many neurons in the cerebellum as in neocortex, a number that is conserved across many different mammalian species. The unusual surface appearance of the cerebellum conceals the fact that most of its volume is made up of a very tightly folded layer of gray matter, the cerebellar cortex. It has been estimated that, if the human cerebellar cortex were completely unfolded, it would give rise to a layer of neural tissue about 1 meter long and averaging 5 centimeters wide – a total surface area of 500 square cm, packed within a volume of dimensions 6 cm x 5 cm x 10 cm. Underneath the gray matter of the cortex lies white matter, made up largely of myelinated nerve fibres running to and from the cortex. Embedded within the white matter – which is sometimes called the arbor vitae (Tree of Life) because of its branched, tree-like appearance in cross section – are four deep cerebella nuclei, composed of gray matter.’ (Wikipedia, Cerrebellum, Anatomy)

‘From the viewpoint of gross anatomy, the cerebellar cortex appears to be a homogeneous sheet of tissue, and, from the viewpoint of microanatomy, all parts of this sheet appear to have the same internal structure.’ (Wikipedia, Cerebellum, Structure, Compartmentalization) ‘Prior to the 1990s, the function of the cerebellum was almost universally believed to be purely motor-related, but newer findings have brought that view strongly into question…. Kenji Doya has argued that the function of the cerebellum is best understood not in terms of what behaviors it is involved in but rather in terms of what neural computations it performs…. is best understood as a device for supervised learning, in contrast to the basal ganglia, which perform reinforcement learning, and the cerebral cortex, which performs unsupervised learning.’ (Wikipedia, Cerebellum, Function)

Bearing in mind the Rule of Life, the quotations above allow a ‘view’ of the body through time. Considering the nervous system only, from above, the ganglions in our spine (worm brain) are ‘boosted’ by the hind brain (lizard brain) is ‘boosted’ by the cerebellum (animal brain) and finally ‘boosted’ by the cortex (higher brain). Each of these ‘brains’ is composed of nerves and have come into being because of survival of the fittest. In the ‘higher’ brains (cerebellum and cerebral cortex), the memory and ‘switching’ devices are more visible. But first, let us look at ‘nerves’.

Other specialized glial cells – oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells – insulate the long axons with a tough , fatty coating called myelin. This insulation prevents signals from one axon inadvertently “leaking” into adjacent axons, and it also speeds up the passage of neural impulse considerably. Myelin is whitish in color, giving the so-called “white matter” of the nervous system its name. “White matter” contrasts to “grey matter” the color of cell bodies and axons that are not coated with myelin sheaths. (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, pp 145-146)

This last paragraph is particularly important because firstly, this is another aspect of the Rule quoted earlier, where the body puts on enough of ‘something’ to enable the body to do what is required of it (the reverse of use it or lose it!). If we have to react faster to survive (where dance can be used as a substitute!), our body will increase the insulation around the nerves to speed up the impulses, as well as growing more ganglions. Secondly, the lack of insulation in the ‘grey matter’ points to, from above ‘signals from one axon inadvertently “leaking” into adjacent axons’. This is a case of the body using the nerves as in the reference to computers above, where there is stability with the myelin sheath to a form of chaos in the unprotected grey matter.

A number of references have mentioned gray matter (unshielded and, as seen in the next chapter, creating new thoughts) and white matter that is shielded and acts as normal insulated ‘wires’. Different parts of the brain contain a mix of gray and white matter and these are there for a reason, and I believe that that reason is that evolution produced a ‘set’ of ‘brains’, one on top of the other as the organism became more complicated. Gray matter produces creativity/consciousness and it is there at every level, and is heritable!

In the beginning, nerves evolved to control and synchronize the movement of muscles so that the organism could move around. The next sense to evolve was probably that of smell because it is connected directly to (what is now) the forebrain. This can be clearly seen in a schematic of the brain of a fish. (Wikipedia, Fish, Central nervous system)

‘These persistent biochemicals penetrate the mucus and brush against little quill-like protein receptors that stud the nerves in the olfactory epithelium. The receptors can recognize a large number of smell-evoking molecules… the neurons begin to fire excitedly … to a group of nerves lying directly above them, in the olfactory bulb…. every other sensory system, at this point, must send a signal to the thalamus and ask permission to connect to the rest of the brain – including the higher levels where perception occurs…. one of those destinations is the amygdala … because smell directly stimulates the amygdala …. smell directly stimulates emotions. Smell signals also head through the piriform cortex to the orbitofrontal cortex, a part of your brain just above and behind your eyes and deeply involved in decision making.’ (Brain rules, John Medina, p213)

Consider ‘the receptors can recognize a large number of smell-evoking molecules’ from above. This is as would be expected, and is the first attempt at a ‘brain’. Two nostrils provide the direction for the creature to move so that the intensity is equalized, and a large number of receptors to define ‘alluring’ smells and to define a ‘scale’ of desirability. A simple hard-wired system that is still with us.

Consider ‘the neurons begin to fire excitedly’. At this early stage of evolution, the ‘brain’ consisted of nerves throughout the body, including those directing the muscles, and the olfactory neurons (one on each side) would have guided the creature to the food. The continuous firing guided the animal. But the body runs on an inhibitory versus excitatory system, with the neurotransmitters providing the balance of desirability. This is how balance is attained, from a logical point of view, to make the body into a ‘computer’.

Then at some point, eyespots evolved. But, ‘serviceable image-forming eyes have evolved between forty and sixty times, independently from scratch, in many different invertebrate groups’ (River Out of Eden, Richard Dawkins, p 91) Eyespots evolved to register change from one state (of what is being observed) to another, so that the appropriate action can be taken. The only way this could be done is to have the nerve impulses from the eyes be put into a register and held till the next sampling comes in and is compared to it. Then, at the next sampling time the original is overwritten, and so forth. Where could this happen?

‘How do we cram the vast universe of our experience into the relatively small storage compartment between our ears? We do what Harpo did: we cheat…. it is compressed for storage by first being reduced to a few critical threads. Later, when we want to remember our experience, our brains quickly reweave the tapestry by fabricating – not by actually retrieving – the bulk of the information that we experience as a memory’ (Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert, pp 78-79)

‘The cerebral cortex is the newest portion of the nervous system, and in man it has developed into the largest portion. In its anatomical connections, it is clearly an outgrowth of the areas of the brain directly beneath it- the hypothalamus’. (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, p 173) ‘London is a taxi driver’s nightmare, a preposterously large and convoluted urban jungle built up chaotically over some fifteen hundred years…. In order to be properly licensed, London taxi drivers must learn all of these driving nooks and crannies – an encyclopaedic awareness known proudly in the trade as ‘The Knowledge’…. In contrast with noncabbies, experienced taxi drivers had a greatly enlarged posterior hippocampus … the longer the driving career, the larger the posterior hippocampus…. These data,’ concluded Maguire dramatically, ‘suggests that the changes in hippocampal grey matter … are acquired’. (The Genius in All of Us, David Shenk, pp 29-30)

I believe that the body contains a number of ‘computers’, and the easiest to explain is the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus and cerebral cortex system, because it is the largest and most recent. ‘Computation’ occurs where there is grey matter, and it is present, from above, in the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. The thalamus is, I believe, a switching device that increases the efficiency of creative thought. The hippocampus contains the ‘registers’ that store the ‘memories’, which are a set of impulses from the body’s sensors, for comparison at future times.

‘The brain’s amygdala aids in the creation of emotions and our ability to remember them.’ (Brain rules, John Medina, p250) This is a simple statement of, I believe, the main function of the amygdala, which is to assign an emotional label to each input from our sensors. Those elements with a high emotion attached, such as escaping a predator, finding a new area of food, remembering the social order of members of the herd are held in a register within the hippocampus. Those inputs with a low emotional attachment are forgotten.

Firstly, how do the nerves work. ‘6-17: Not only must fluid be free to circulate around a neuron, fluid must flow all the way out its long axon and back again in order for the life of the cell and the conditions for action potential propagation to be maintained. Nerve cells are as hydraulic as they are electrical.’ (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, p 156) ‘6-14: Each action potential ripples down the surface of the axon. The advancing internal positive charge continues to open more sodium (Na+) gates. Once a local area beneath the membrane has achieved a positive charge, this charge closes the Na+ gates and opens K+ gates, expelling K+ from the cell and restoring the net negative charge. This creates the rippling motion of the action potential along the axon. It then takes about four more milliseconds for the cell to re-establish the original ionic balances, setting the trigger for the next action potential. During this time, the membrane is refractory, and cannot generate another action potential.’ (p 153)

‘At the synapse, where the axon of the first cell joins to the dendrite or the body of the next cell in line, this polarity reversal causes the quick release of a neurotransmitter. The most common neurotransmitter seems to be acetylcholine, although there are a number of other important ones. Once released into the synaptic cleft, this acetylcholine contracts the membrane of the next cell, with dramatic effect: the membrane, which at rest had been sixty to seventy times more permeable to potassium than to sodium, suddenly becomes six hundred times more permeable to sodium. The sodium gates are thrown open, and a volume of positive sodium ions rushes into the cell, making the interior region immediately beneath the synapse positive (+30 mV.) instead of negative (-70 mV.). The acetylcholine is immediately reabsorbed by the first cell, to be reused for the next stimulation, but the disturbance of the polarities it triggered continues along the membrane of the second cell in a self-perpetuating ripple.’ (p 152)

‘Grey matter’, is the term used for nerves without insulation, and these nerves have an external positive charge that tends to keep them apart. Further, ‘as neurons learn, they swell, sway and split. They break connections in one spot, glide over to a nearby region, and form connections with their new neighbors. Many stay put, simply strengthening their electrical connections with each other, increasing the efficiency of information transfer. (Brain rules, John Medina, p57)

The biological computer described above, shows two construction simplifications (compared to the manufactured computers that we all use). Firstly, action potentials are propagated at a constant voltage, no matter what the distance along the nerve, and secondly, new connections that are created, carry the same action potential regardless of the number of new connections. This effect of a biological computer greatly simplifies the maintenance of voltages throughout the system.

Further, ‘this conduction and transmission of action potentials is the only functional activity of our neurons. Their collective circuitry forms the fastest communication system within the body. Impulses ripple across their surfaces at an average of two hundred and fifty miles an hour, a speed which makes their traverses of the body very nearly instantaneous.’ (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, p 155

So, the pulses travel from the sensor (or senses) and those with higher emotional (or importance) labels are held in ‘registers’ in the hippocampus. Thus the hippocampus is a storage area that sorts the important memories from those that are unimportant and can be discarded. So, how could the ‘strings’ of potentials be held for the long-term? ‘The hippocampus is relevant to memory formation for more than a decade after the event was recruited for long-term storage. After that, the memory somehow makes it to another region, one not affected by H.M.’s brain losses, and as a result, H.M. can retrieve it.’ (Brain rules, John Medina, p140) H. M. is a patient with hippocampus damage.

Thus the simplest means of forming a ‘register’, using the above, is to have a nerve transmit permanently (for up to ten years) a slowly moving (250 miles per hour) string of action potentials in a continuous loop. This simple system is expensive in energy, in order to keep the action potentials moving, and is backed up by the following. ‘The brain’s appetite for energy is enormous. The brain represents only about 2 percent of most people’s body weight, yet it accounts for about 20 percent of the body’s total energy usage – about 10 times more than would be expected.’ (p 20) If this idea is correct it points to another case of inefficiency that has evolved, and that we must accept.

It also appears, from above (the taxi drivers) that the hippocampus can hold vast amounts of information. Also, ‘if we take the two hippocampi to consist of roughly 10 power 4 networks of 10 power 4 neurons each, then their storage capacity is (using a Hopfield net estimate) approximately 10 power 11 bits, which is quite large, given Landauer’s estimate that we acquire only about 10 power 9 bits of information in a lifetime.’ (Memory and Dreams, George Christos, p70) . However, from above, this information is also processed before being retained with an emotive label. Thus the hippocampus is a computer, good enough to navigate the streets of London, but this is just the start!

‘The cerebral cortex is the layer of the brain often referred to as gray matter. The cortex (thin layer of tissue) is gray because nerves in this area lack the insulation that makes most parts of the brain appear to be white. The cortex covers the outer portion (1.5mm to 5mm) of the cerebrum and cerebellum…. The cerebral cortex consists of folded bulges called gyri that create deep furrows called sulci. The folds of the brain add to its surface area and therefore increase the amount of gray matter and the quantity of information that can be processed…. It encompasses about two-thirds of the brain mass and lies over and around most of the structures of the brain…. The cerebral cortex is divided into lobes that each have a specific function. For example, there are specific areas involved in vision, hearing, touch, movement and smell. Other areas are critical for thinking and reasoning. Although many functions, such as touch, are found in both right and left cerebral hemispheres, some functions are found in only one cerebral hemisphere.’ (Cerebral Cortex, Regina Bailey, About.com Guide) ‘Cognitive and volitive systems project fibers from the cerebrum to the thalamus and to specific regions of the midbrain. (Wikipedia, Cerebrum, Composition)

The important points from the above are, I believe, the cortex encompasses about two-thirds of the brain mass, it is uniform in structure and is composed of gray matter and contains lobes that each have a specific function. The thalamus is, I believe, simply a switch to transmit the parts of a memory into different areas (lobes), so that each lobe contains information relevant to vision, hearing, touch, movement etc. The cortex is a computer because of the gray matter and any ‘result’ of thinking would be (essentially) random if the thalamus did not organize the information into lobes. The thalamus creates better ‘association’ in creative thinking. For example, a sound in the night would target the sound lobe that would generate other memories of sounds in the night. The time has come to put forward the method by which I believe the brain ‘thinks’, and that will be done in the following chapter.

Chapter 8: The Brain

‘It is the mind that is the organizer of our health and our strength, of our associations and responses, of our thoughts, our feelings, and our tissues. The laws of physics and chemistry dictate the conditions which it has at its disposal, but so far no one has been even remotely successful in identifying any combination of these laws as the motivating factor behind the development of consciousness and behavior.’ (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, p xxv)

So, why not make an attempt to understand the workings of the brain? A roadmap that is somewhat inaccurate is better than no map at all, and it gives someone the opportunity to amend areas at a later date. At least a start has been made even if some parts are deficient or even incorrect. Sufficient clues to the working of the brain have been published, I believe, so why not make an attempt by setting up a road-map using logical choices.

Firstly, a simple ‘rule’ that points the way into the world of ‘life’ is necessary to help clarify a relationship that has been on-going for 3,000 million years. It is basically, the logic that has been forced on all living things by the passage of long periods of time. Over the vast time of evolution and the vast number of animals contributing to survival of the fittest there is great pressure to increase the complexity of biochemical reactions within the body to attain goals that the organism needs to attain to stay alive, reproduce etc. in the ‘face’ of competition.

There is also great pressure to reduce unnecessary physical parts, if the same result can be attained another way, bearing in mind that it is necessary to build upon something that already exists. For example, the eye works well, but it does contain ‘engineering’ that could be bettered if we were to design it from basic principles instead of it evolving. For want of a better name, I will call these two statements the Rule of Life.

We have seen this before, firstly, iteration, provided by the world scene, and, secondly, simplicity as a basic requirement of life. This second part says that anything not used and that requires extra energy, to the detriment of the organism’s ability to compete is lost over time.

postscript: These two simple requirements of iteration and simplicity are actually an integral part of the ‘web’ of life and the operation of the universe, and are presented simply because there has to be a point of entry. Iteration is a Truth, in the sense of the Half-truth and provides an ‘intelligence’ that acts like a mind/brain that creates determinism in quantum mechanics and provides a direction in time.

‘Simplicity’ is a state in componentization that forms frictionless logic machines that ‘power’ the physical universe as atoms etc and the same logic machines ‘power’ life and Survival of the Fittest through the more successful organisms having more ‘energy’ for procreation. Together, these concepts form part of the Laws of Life.

It is apparent that iteration or Survival of the Fittest are means to an end, but, with intelligence, guided by a mathematics, such as the Mathematics of the Mind, the speed of evolution can be increased, wars stopped etc. as in the Survival of the Best, mentioned later, and we can turn the world into a paradise!

An example of the complexity of biochemistry is shown by the following list of neurotransmitters in humans. ‘Gamma-aminobutryic acid ‘GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and is the most common neurotransmitter in the brain …. norepinephrine is the main neurotransmitter of the locus coeruleus. It is an inhibitory nuerotransmitter that is distinctly implicated with learning and arousal….. Acetylcholine …. is an excitatory, which is implicated with memory …. serotonin is another inhibitory neurotransmitter, whose centre is located in the raphe nuclei, in the brain stem…. glutamate, or glutamic acid is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the cerebral cortex….dopamine is mainly concerned with the control of motor function…. histamine, which is involved in allergic reactions in the body, is also a neurotransmitter that is thought to be related to emotional behaviour…. glycine is the most prominent neurotransmitter in the spinal cord and the brain stem. It is an inhibitory transmitter. There are many other neurotransmitters, probably around thirty or more…. The brain is a complicated “soup” of chemicals, which may also interact with each other in subtle ways.’ (Memory and Dreams, George Christos, p 25-27) Thus, the biochemistry of the brain is complicated, but the principles behind the working of the brain should be simple, from the rule above, and as the brain is a computer of some type, let us look at the logic behind some types of computers.

(1) Mathematics of the mind: In the simplest case of two limits, chaos and a stable state, we have defined a space, and given another stable state we can move (or compare) between the two (or more), given a mind to direct the choice and a set of rules for each state.

(2) Computer-wise: In the simplest state a memory exists or does not exist. With two (or more) states or memories we need a comparator or register to compare them. A program directs the choice, which either needs a mind to write the program, or an evolution to derive a program.

(3) Biochemically: In the simplest case, positive feedback (excitation) leads to chaos and negative feedback (inhibition) to a stable state, and we have defined a space. A third factor is the synapse, and in the synapse, the strength of the neurotransmitter varies. This variation will be shown to be crucial for a number of reasons, such as the seventh sense, plasticity of the mind, the subconscious etc.

Surprisingly, the brain uses all three! In (1) ‘induction’ in the cortex between the patterns of memory produces ‘creative’ thoughts, (2) holding knowledge in the hippocampus and setting up the memory, and (3) the long-term memory in the cortex. Further, it should always be borne in mind that the nervous system is composed of ‘patterns’ of action potentials, which are being ‘compared’ and decisions have to be made between different states (or attractors).

The same can be said for this derivation in this book, in that it is an exercise in the Mathematics of the Mind. Quotes from a variety of sources are presented as patterns (attractors) and our mind ‘weaves’ between them to find a logic that each of us is comfortable with. Perhaps a creative thought might arise or previous experiences can be added to the thrust of the argument.

But, starting at the beginning, ‘Dale’s Law, that neurons act in either an all excitatory or all inhibitory way, is thought to be based on the fact that a neuron operates with one neurotransmitter at all its presynaptic terminals, where it communicates its signal to other neurons (Eccles 1964).’ (Memory and Dreams, George Christos, p25) For example, a neurotransmitter, if it weakens from lack of use, may not be strong enough to permit the passage of action potentials and will take that memory out of service. In other words, the memory will move into the subconscious, but not necessarily be forgotten. Indeed, the strength of neurotransmitters is at the core of our mind/brain.

‘Each neuron consists of a body (called the soma) and tentacles (called dendrites), which act like tree roots, seeking and receiving information from thousands of other neurons. Information is collected by the dendrites (and the soma itself) and transmitted to the soma, where it is processed. If the sum of all of these inputs into any particular neuron is of sufficient magnitude (greater than some inbuilt electrical threshold) and of sufficient synchronicity (that is, the signals arrive at almost the same time, that neuron will itself “fire”’ (p 12)

A program, below, directs the choice between inhibitory, excitatory and strength of neurotransmitter to produce a biological computer, but such a computer is based on patterns that change with time and the surroundings in which the animal is living and can be described by the Mathematics of the Mind. For example, my mind is putting this paper together by pulling together (hopefully relevant) patterns in the form of quotations that I have read in a variety of books and life experiences. Also, personal details will be used on occasion because my lifestyle is necessarily part of this derivation and explanation. This book is primarily a book about anti ageing, but the Mathematics of the Mind requires selecting relevant concepts spread over a wide subject range.

The Mathematics of the Mind is a means of using and navigating the patterns that are all around us and which change with time, and the aim is to find solutions or predictions that we can use. Mathematics is exact and unchanging, but once time is added, the situation is not static and must be used by forming a ‘prediction’. An example using the seventh sense will be given later.

The form of the brain is very old and very simple in (logical) design, so much so that the brain can be considered to be an unchanging ‘component’ (see below), and the basic form has remained unchanged from fish, snakes, birds, mammals, monkeys and humans. (JOB’S BODY, A Handbook for Bodywork, Deane Juhan, diagram p 169)

It is interesting why the brains of the creatures listed above have two hemispheres, and it is an illustration that once evolution has produced something, there is no going back and evolution has to do the best that it can. Iteration through Survival of the Fittest is mathematical, but it is a poor alternative to logic and re-design. More on this subject in chapter 12, but first, let’s start at the beginning.

‘In primitive coelenterates, such as the hydra, we find a cell that is both sensory nerve and contractile muscle all in one…. In more highly developed coelenterates, like the sea anemone or the jellyfish, we discover that these myoepithelial cells are differentiated into two separate elements connected together – sensory cells in the skin, and muscle cells in the deeper layers…. such a system is still purely reflex in nature … appearance of flatworms. Here for the first time we find a second layer of nerve cells interpolated between the sensory neurons in the skin and the deeper muscle cells… This is the beginning of the centralization of the nervous system, the first hint of spinal cord and brain.’ (pp 165-166)

‘In still higher invertebrates, such as the earthworm, the diffuse nature of this intermediate net disappears, and it is now organized into a distinct nerve cord running the length of the worm…. The overall structure of the earthworm is segmented, and each segment contains the sensory and motor neurons which directly control its sensations and functions. Where these segmental trunks of sensory and motor elements connect with the central cord, they form ganglia which orchestrate their local activities. All these segmental ganglia are connected to one another and finally to the head by the afferent and efferent pathways within the longitudinal cord, and in this way stimulation in any segment can influence movement in any other segment, while the coordination of the entire chain of segments can be orchestrated by the larger head ganglion.’ (pp 166-167)

‘The alpha is rooted in the surface of the more recently developed cerebral cortex; its control is more accessible to my conscious awareness, and is the avenue through which I direct voluntary commands to my muscles, such as “raise right arm”. The gamma system, on the other hand, is rooted in the deeper, more ancient strata of the brain stem that are not normally accessible to my conscious awareness, and this is the avenue through which I direct largely unconscious impulses which adjust the position and tone of my body as a whole in such a way as to correctly support my conscious, voluntary movements. For instance, ”raise right arm” cannot be smoothly executed unless the unconscious commands “brace right leg and muscles to the left of spine’ are not automatically triggered by the stretches initiated by the pulling imbalance of the extending arm.’ (p 215)

‘In the human being, this gamma system accounts for fully one third of an individual’s motor neurons. In most other mammals, this fraction is even larger, since their cortexes are much smaller relative to the size of their brain stems than is man’s.’ (p 216)

‘These latter examples of digestion and distribution are accomplished by the action of the muscles of the viscera, from throat to stomach to intestines to anus, and of the circulatory system, from heart to capillary to vein. These “smooth muscles” and “cardiac muscles”, as distinct from the striated skeletal muscles, are directly linked to the autonomic nervous system, whose very name expresses the independence from voluntary intervention that it once was thought to have. Because we normally do not consciously command the contractions and expansions of these visceral muscles, it was assumed that their healthy activities and their pathologies were beyond our conscious control.’ (pp 291-292)

‘The autonomic nervous system is not self-governing at all. Its functions are integrated with voluntary movements no less than with motivations and effects. In short, its roots are in the brain: one’s experiences from moment to moment dictate not only the contractions of one’s skeletal muscles but also large functional shifts in the body’s internal organs…. After all, affect and motivation find observable expression in visceral and endocrine changes.’ (p 292)

‘Recent experiments have indicated that visceral and glandular responses can be learned. For example, to avoid an electric shock, a rat can learn to selectively increase or decrease its heart rate, and a rabbit can learn to constrict the vessels in one ear while dilating those in the other.’ (p 293)

The alpha, gamma and autonomic nervous systems are ways of dividing up an entity that works together to achieve many purposes, such as to feed itself, to break that food down into energy and use that energy to defend itself, find food and so on. We know that it works, but what are its limitations? The brain can be considered to be a ‘component’, which is a machine that has the capacity to ‘always’ do the job and not breakdown or cause a nuisance, such as an alternator on a car. In fact, as will be shown later, the whole body is composed of ‘components’. This has come about because ‘while physical environments may have differed in the extreme, the conditions of selection under which humankind’s mental evolution occurred were everywhere alike’ (Race and IQ. Ashley Montagu, p 39)

Also, ‘known traits that were genetically changed are, as we have seen, primarily in resistance to disease and adaptation to local climates and food sources. No statistical genetic differences between entire populations have yet been discovered that affect the amygdala and other controlling circuit centers of emotional response. Nor is any genetic change known that prescribes average differences between populations in the deep cognitive processing of language and mathematical reasoning – although such may yet be detected.’ (The Social Conquest of Earth, Edward O. Wilson, p100)

Chapter 31: Gravity, Conservation Laws, Entanglement and Decision-making

Previously, it was derived that ‘we evolved reality from the probability of existence’ by using the Mathematics of the Mind. The derivation of the probability of existence, is strengthened by approaching it from another direction. The more directions from which something can be derived, the larger the number of predictions that can be made from it and the ‘better’ the theory.

Our universe is a closed system and we would consider that the Law of Conservation of Energy, would apply and indeed it probably does, but what is this law? ‘In physics, the law of conservation of energy states that the total energy in an isolated system cannot change – it is said to be conserved over time’. (Wikipedia, Conservation of energy) Also, it has one dimension, which is time. (Wikipedia, Conservation law)

It is strange that under this law, our universe would have one dimension (time) and this presumably reflects the logic that we cannot ‘see’ inside that universe and that it is, thus, indeterminant to us. Current thinking is that our reality operates under space-time and we have to logically live in a ‘conserved’ universe, else it would run out of something eventually. So, where do we find a theoretical model for a conserved space that has the dimensions of space and time?

On the other hand, ‘in quantum mechanics, the probability current (sometimes called probability flux) is a mathematical quantity describing the flow of probability… It is a real vector’. (Wikipedia, Probability current) This isn’t very helpful, but shows that it is used and the dimensions of the Conservation of Probability are ‘total probability always = 1, in whole x, y, z space, during time evolution’ (Wikipedia, Conservation law, conservation of probability, number of dimensions)

This Conservation of Probability aligns with our universe in that we have ‘in whole x, y, z space, during time evolution’. Its not quite space-time because ‘time evolution’ is the same as the ‘time passing’ that I have used previously, and it is not an interval of time. Time interval is man-made, as is space interval in ‘whole x, y, z space’. I want to point out here that we have found a ‘complete’ mathematical ‘statement’, and our world appears to satisfy part of it, but I maintain that by Occam’s razor the simplest and most logical system will probably apply ‘best’, and that is the mathematical system, and is a Truth. So, how does our view of the universe (world O) compare with the mathematical form, and if it differs, why have we complicated things?

The ‘total probability always = 1’ aligns with Conservation of Energy, plus has the logic that every point in the space contributes to the sum and it must do so instantly to avoid local violations. So, every point is ‘entangled’ with every other point in the space constantly and instantly to provide a constant sum of energy. How can this be? The answer is, as we derived previously, what we call gravity, which affects EVERY particle-particle, particle-energy and energy-energy reaction in the universe according to the Law of Conservation of Energy because of a simple attraction that must exist for us to exist (out of the multiverse).

To logically satisfy the law, instantaneous accounting must be kept, and that is done automatically because there is only a constant amount of energy/matter, and photons and matter continually change their energy, as we have seen (Pound-Rebka experiment) to keep the total energy at 1 to satisfy the Law of Conservation of Energy.

So, gravity is the mechanism to provide a universe that we can live in, and that attraction of gravity (between matter, energy etc.) provides a source of energy which is part of the limit 1, Conservation of Energy sets the Conservation of Probability limit of 1, and a set limit of 1 requires instantaneous velocities to be attainable, so that the limit equals 1 at all times. This effect is ‘entanglement’.

The statement of each ‘point’ in the field is logical, but not necessary because there is ‘nothing’ at most points, so even if it is necessary to sum every point, the ‘empty’ points would return a reading of zero. Thus it is only the ‘occupied’ points that contribute, and a macroscopic body, such as an organism contributes each particle or photon in their body and this may be the ‘sense’ that organisms have of predators, herd, prospective mates etc. In other words, can organisms ‘link in’ to entanglement to help them survive? Given so many generations over 3.000 million years, has any organism been able to use entanglement for their own use to survive better?

Every sense that we have evolved ‘links’ ourselves with the rest of the world. We have evolved senses to create a reality for ourselves, and our bodies have evolved colour vision etc. to lend contrast and make the reality more ‘real’. Thus, ‘we evolved reality, from the possibility of existence’ again, using a totally different method.

It would be a bit strange if our senses are caused by entanglement when we know that ‘seeing’ uses photons, touch uses molecule movement, hearing uses molecule movement etc., but what provides our thinking, creativity, consciousness and decision-making? I suggest that there are two processes at work here, or perhaps a ‘duality’ of sensing and of deciding whether to do something about it. We come back to world O using distance and time interval (speed) as a means of hunting and avoidance of predation (space-time), when the space is merely ‘in whole x, y, z space, during time evolution’.

Quantum mechanics provides ‘creativity’ in our brain/mind by producing spurious (to an extent) thoughts, or it could be said half-thoughts that are generated by induction (of action potentials) between the dendrites of the nerves within the brain and body. The compartmentalisation of areas of the brain keeps creativity ‘within the subject’ and the logic of ‘writing’ memories to the brain necessarily distorts memory because of the iterative process of laying down memories and creates, the problem of ‘when is a memory “good” enough to be retained’? (see chapters 8,9, 10 and 11)

‘Thinking’ is viewing the world of our ‘reality’ so that we can compare, and for that we use the senses to build a ‘picture’ that our senses ‘see’. ‘Consciousness’ is the ability to gain some idea of the outside world and our place in it compared to predators etc. To sum the above, creativity, consciousness and thinking are ‘physical’, in that they are products of (what we call, space-time), but they are ‘hanging-fire’ and can’t be implemented without one more step, and that is ‘decision-making’ which is logic.

Let’s put it another way. Consciousness is the ability to do something with those thoughts, and does NOT say that a photon has entered the eye, it says a photon has entered, do we do something or not do something. No computer can add two numbers unless it is told to, and we need a decision ‘key’ to act in the same way that every point in probability space changes, and that ‘key’ is logic that causes decision-making. Confabulation must have a decision attached to it, if it is to be of use, and its success is heritable, so ‘decision-making’ is the ‘over-arching’ effect of entanglement, or is it? Is there another mechanism that produces decisions? Perhaps entanglement is the calculation of energy only.

Many times I have written that there is a logical difference between the ‘near’ and the ‘far’, between the close friendly herd and the farther distance that holds predators and mate-stealers etc. It is now clear why there is a logical difference, it is sensing with NO decision, when close by, and sensing with the possibility of decision-making with its associated confabulation. It is interesting that the earliest senses did not use decision-making (chapter 12: Why the Brain has Two Hemispheres). Some time ago, in considering this divide in logic of the action of distance within a herd, I thought that it may have had something to do with the two hemispheres of the brain.

The first sense to be developed was probably ‘touch’ or pressure from a member of the group or being consumed by a predator, whilst the second would have been ‘smell’. Fish are symmetrical about the vertical plane for a number of reasons, such as they are less visible to predators at other depths, give more traction for swimming etc and they have two nostrils in their nose (as we do), and I surmise that the fish guided itself to food by following the scent intensity from each nostril. This is a simple form of decision-making, so that the fish turned left or right at the same (feeding) depth depending on which nostril was recording the strongest scent.

The point is that fish have ganglions (or early form of brain) behind each nostril and as animals evolved these two separate ‘brains’ became the hemispheres and are joining together, as we evolve, through the corpus callosum, which ‘is a wide flat bundle of neural fibers beneath the cortex in the eutherian brain at the longitudinal fissure. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication. It is the largest white matter structure in the brain, consisting of 200-250 million contralateral axonal projections.’ (Wikipedia, Corpus callosum) White matter indicates conduction of signals with no interference from other ‘contralateral axonal projections’.

This indicates that organisms started with a ‘simple’ means of decision-making, and the corpus callosum is bringing the brain into a whole, but, the brain is an iterative procedure, which is a Truth, and is under the control of Survival of the Fittest. A computer is capable of decision-making if it is programmed by a mind/brain and the iteration (Survival of the Fittest) of evolution acts as a mind/brain. Thus it is likely that entanglement is not the logic needed for the Half-truth, and is a simple logical accounting system. But, it is a logic and other ‘varieties’ of logic must be supported by our universe.

So if entanglement does not lead to decision-making, what is the Half-truth? The Half-truth is an operator that ‘filters’ the wider ‘logical environment’ and decides whether it is always true/false, true some of the time or chaotic/indeterminate and this enables a decision to be made on the basis that a decision is possible. To make a decision is NOT an easy concept for us to imagine or accept, but that does not make it less true. The easiest way to understand it is through the fact that the number of dimensions that we use, MUST be complete for a reality. We currently use space-time that allows no logic, but logic is all around us and we use it everyday. Simple statements such as ‘if I go the store, I’ll buy vegetables’ are logic but are not integrated with space-time. The question is, why not? I suggest space-time-Half-truth would be complete.

To digress for a moment, because the above left me wondering, ‘if I go the store, I’ll buy vegetables’ is formal logic and how does that fit into the Half-truth? I have said that the Half-truth is complete, so there must be an answer, and a moment’s reflection reveals that it fits into the third term: it can be restated as false until you buy vegetables and true after you buy vegetables. The aim is to simplify a huge mass of formal logic, and the half-truth does that, but information is lost, just as mathematics becomes less precise when the Mathematics of the Mind is used.

What is the current thinking on quantum entanglement? ‘One particle of an entangled pair “knows” what measurement has been performed on the other, and with what outcome, even though there is no known means for such information to be communicated between the particles, which at the time of measurement may be separated by arbitrarily large distances.’ (Wikipedia, Quantum entanglement)

Further, ‘quantum entanglement is a physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently – instead, a quantum state may be given for the system as a whole. Measurements of physical properties such as position, momentum, spin, polarization, etc. performed on entangled particles are found to be appropriately correlated.’ (Wikipedia, Quantum entanglement)

The above two paragraphs indicate that the two ‘particles of an entangled pair’ are entangled together, whereas we have shown that every particle must be entangled with every other particle. However, when two photons are produced they are produced in a ‘mechanistic’ way that lead to the photons having physical properties that are ‘appropriately correlated’. This correlation is sought-after by the experimenters, to study the phenomenon, and it is natural that when one is measured, the other will have the appropriate correlation.

The properties of the particles are indeterminate until measured, so I will repeat a previous paragraph. ‘Local realist view of causality (Einstein referred to it as “spooky action at a distance”), and argued that the accepted formulation of quantum mechanics must therefore be incomplete.’ (Wikipedia, Quantum entanglement) Indeed, I have shown that the common concept of quantum mechanics IS wrong. I repeat: it is NOT the duality of the particle and wave that is the basis of quantum mechanics (even if that was why it was set up), that is, the physical aspects of the quantum (world O view), it is the logical aspects (of world P) of providing a reference point to DEFINE the logic of measurement in order for it to be possible to determine it in some form. In other words, a duality is needed between the particle and the observer because measurement of length and time is not available in world P, as it is a probability space.

Thus, if a property of one particle is known, then we must know the property of the other because firstly, there is correlation, and secondly, as in the experiment mentioned previously, the property becomes determinate when a record is available that can be viewed at a later date. These requirements must be met through logic and, as above, must be instantaneous, and this assertion is verified by experiment.

‘Recent experiments have measured entangled particles within less than one part in 10,000 of the light travel time between them. According to the formalism of quantum theory, the effect of measurement happens instantly.’ (Wikipedia, Quantum entanglement) It should be noted that the effects of a change in the energy of any part of the universe MUST be communicated to every other part INSTANTLY, else local action occurs, which is forbidden because Conservation of Energy would be (logically) broken.

‘Quantum entanglement … effects have been demonstrated experimentally with photons, electrons, molecules the size of buckyballs’ (Wikipedia, Quantum entanglement) This shows that large molecules entangle and reinforces the idea the everything must (logically) be included in the summation of the Conservation of Energy.

We can start anywhere, because everything is related, from, as we have seen, quantum mechanics to the universe and all instantaneously! The Mathematics of the Mind is weighting the senses so that the ‘best’ action is performed to keep the organism functioning and that is Survival of the Fittest and heritable. A choice for the future entails Survival of the Best and an appropriate ‘juggling’ of the ‘parameters of life’ as seen through the senses that feed input into our mind/brain is the subject of this book. ‘In addition to the Aristotelian five, some 5 further senses have been identified over the past century. Thermoception is a sense physiologically distinct from touch which enables us to detect temperature differences – just as Plato suggested…. Sometimes also known as kinaesthesia, proprioception is the awareness of your body parts in relation to one another, and the sensation of their movement through space…. Nociception, your sense of pain….. equilibrioception, your sense of balance – the main organ for it, the vestibular labyrinthine system can be found in our inner ears. Finally, human beings possibly have a weak sense of direction, magnetoreception. In the ethmoid bone just between our eyes and behind our nose is a tiny crystal of magnetite, which is like a compass that orients us within the earth’s magnetic field. (The Wonderbox, Roman Krznaric, p 156)

In addition, I believe that there are three other senses within the brain, the eighth sense is the ability to know what foods are necessary to balance the diet, the seventh sense, that changes our thinking as the climate changes through the ingestion of phyto/neurotoxins, and thirdly, creative thought is the ninth sense as mentioned in the chapters on the brain.

The Mathematics of the mind is conceptually simple and seeks the best solution (or action) based on some combination of the senses using a logical process defined by Survival of the Fittest. The most important senses are used, with less important added to give a more and more accurate ‘answer’ or more appropriate action, which is in line with the derivation of it in this book. The operator is Truth and evolution has been used to better handle its application to ensure survival, which is heritable.

The Mathematics of the Mind has brought together attractors from many academic fields in the above chapter, and a prediction is necessary. ‘Over the past century, both education and work have encouraged us towards increasing specialisation, and the prevalent ideal is to become an expert who excels in a narrow area… First … division of labour … second reason is that academic learning has become extraordinarily specialised … third explanation for the cult of specialisation is that the amount of information in the world has grown so vast that it is impossible to gain deep understanding across a range of subjects or professions.’ (p 95)

I have always tried to be a ‘generalist’ and this book is a roadmap into a new area, that of the ‘overview’, which, as above, few are willing to explore. I said the same when I ventured into looking at the mind/brain and found that it is capable of huge ‘feats’ given a knowledge of the relationship of state of mind, nutrition and exercise that can prolong life and allow the mind/brain/body to grow with age.

‘Yet being a generalist should not be dismissed too quickly. During the Italian Renaissance it was considered the ultimate human ideal’. (p 96) ‘I believe that, in our era dominated by specialisation, we need to rediscover the Renaissance ideal of the generalist.’ (p 97) As ‘proof’ of that statement, none of the above, nor of the whole book is difficult, it is the fitting together of a wide range of subjects, and the fact that I found an opportunity to do this, shows a lack of understanding of the needs of the generalist versus the specialist. It is interesting that this state of affairs is occurring at this very moment as ‘bloggers’ are offering a wider view, as I am attempting to do, using internet informal publishing. Even Journals are going online and I have been told that bloggers are often a source of articles for them.