Recalibrating Our Truth Meter
Hmmm, does it onlycompute through the lens of fear?
The question of whetherit is valid to compare our brains to a computer operating system is oftendebated. There are obvious similarities as well as differences. Our brainscannot process large amounts of data as efficiently as a computer. On the otherhand, computers cannot make the creative leaps that our brains are capable ofachieving.
Yes, I know that we areonly just tickling the surface of artificial intelligence and what its’horizons may be. But that is a debate for another day.
What I am ponderingtoday is a comparison of a different sort. The IT world appropriated the term virus from medical science. There is anentire industry built around detecting computer viruses and protecting ouroperating systems from them.
It occurs to me that themetaphor can be turned around and pointed back at us. New considerations arisewhen we allow ourselves to conceive of our brain as an operating system withits own inherent vulnerabilities.
A fundamental differencebetween a computer’s operating system and our brain is the variable of emotion.It is what makes us human. But emotion does not always adhere to reason. Thisis not by definition a bad thing. But it is a source of vulnerability.
If you feed false datainto a computer, it simply will not compute. But if you feed false data intoour brains and attach it to emotion in the process, our brains can be tricked.Emotion becomes a catalyst that blurs the line between truth and deceit.
In the same way acomputer virus can disable an operating system, information wrapped in negativeemotions like fear becomes a de facto virus which can compromise the brain’soperating system. We lose the ability to objectively evaluate information anddetect inherent inconsistencies in it.
Truth, like so manythings in life, truth is not an absolute. The same can be said of deceit. Theysit at opposite ends of a sliding scale which is constantly shifting. We areall gifted with a truth meter. But it can lose its calibration when emotiongets pulled in where it does not belong. Unfortunately, there is no diagnosticprogram we can run to determine if our brain is infected.
What can we do?
We can be on our guardwhen we are fed information cloaked in fear. Filter out the fear before youevaluate the integrity of what you are being told. If the data only computeswhen viewed through the lens of fear, chances are good that it is bogus informationserved up by someone with ulterior motives.
Our truth meter isalways engaged. My request is simply that you make good use of it.
~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .
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