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June 8 - June 9, 2024
This book will explore strong evidence suggesting that the concept of the self is simply a construct of the mind, rather than a physical thing located somewhere within the brain itself. Put another way, it is the process of thinking that creates the self, rather than there being a self having any independent existence separate from thought.
The self is more like a verb than a noun. To take it a step further, the implication is that without thought, the self does not, in fact, exist.
the left brain is an interpreter or story-maker. Pattern recognition, language, mapmaking, and categorization are all located in the left brain,
the right brain and how it works, which includes things such as finding meaning, our ability to see and understand big-picture ideas, expressing creativity, experiencing emotions, and spatial processing.
Gazzaniga determined that the left side of the brain created explanations and reasons to help make sense of what was going on.1 The left brain acted as an “interpreter” for reality. Furthermore, Gazzaniga found that this interpreter was often completely and totally wrong.
These studies strongly suggest that we live our lives under the direction of the interpreter, and for most of us the mind is a master we are not even aware of. We may become angry, offended, sexually aroused, happy, or fearful, and we do not question the authenticity of these thoughts and experiences.
even though the left-brain interpreter is always on and cannot be turned off, once it is recognized—or that is to say, once we become aware of its constant interpretations—a new awareness of ourselves and the world begins.
Because the left brain looks outward and only focuses on objects, categorizes them, and labels them, is it possible that it also looks inward and does the same thing? In other words, does the left brain see thought happening in the brain and continuously create a “thing” out of the process of thinking, which it then labels “me”?
Is it possible that the self we invest so much in is nothing more than a story to help explain our behaviors, the myriad events that go on in our lives, and our experiences in the world?
What exactly is language? Well one could say that language is just a form of mapmaking. In the same way that a map represents a place, language creates symbols, or words, that represent something else.
the left brain mistakes the map for the territory.
Our association of our true self with the constant voice in our head is an instance of mistaking the map (the voice) for the territory (who we really are). This error is one of the biggest reasons the illusion of self is so difficult to see.
imagine for a moment if there were no self to hurt? Would words directed at this “you” ever be seen as a problem?
The root of the problem is that many of us do not see language as a representation of reality, but confuse it with reality itself.
Finger / moon
This is the conundrum of the left brain: there is a limit to its understanding through categorizing and interpreting, and although we can hit that limit quickly and easily, many people, including some of the most well-known psychologists and Western philosophers, disregard this fact and put all their stock in the power of thinking.
Descartes, Enlightenment thinkers, Augustine, etc.
To think is to think in categories, and there is no way around this. There are, however, other forms of intelligence associated with the right side of the brain that are beyond the capacity of the interpretive mind,
when you realize that everyone's brain is constantly interpreting, in ways that are subjective and often inaccurate or completely incorrect, you might find yourself able to grasp this as “just my opinion” or “the way I see it” rather than “this is the way it is.”
When someone approaches you with a “this is the way it is” attitude, you can appreciate that this person is dominated by the left brain, that they are a servant to its master. As a result, there is no need to take their actions or attitudes personally; it's a biological function that they have not yet recognized. This small perspective shift is enough to change how we live with each other and ourselves.
The left-brain interpreter also creates and sustains a collection of categorical thoughts based on judgments and groups them together as likes and dislikes, ideas of right and wrong, and mental models of how things are supposed to be. We collectively call these judgments our belief system.
Having no control over beliefs can be a source of anxiety in belief-based religious systems. Many of these systems are set up such that eternal salvation or morality rest upon relying on a certain belief. And since it is impossible to control our beliefs, it may be impossible to be saved,
Perhaps these paradoxes are just modern forms of the much older practice of Zen Buddhism: the use of koans to trip up or stop the interpreting mind from its constant thinking.
a participant's tendency to see patterns increased when the researchers threatened the participant's sense of self.
Note how everything seems more meaningful in times of uncertainty or crisis
The tendency of the self to defend its own image through more thinking is a hallmark of understanding in Buddhism. Experienced meditators describe how in meditation, as the mind begins to still and the voice in the head speaks less frequently, there is often a rush of thoughts that are most important to sustaining the self-image.
the self is more like a verb than a noun. It only exists when we think it does, because the process of thinking creates it.
have you ever felt a threat to your ego? Ever felt stupid or embarrassed? In those moments your sense of self wasn't as secure as you thought it was, so you likely shifted and reinterpret the events to account for this unexpected change. This reinterpreting or reinvesting can happen in a variety of ways. You may do anything from discounting others (i.e., “their opinion is of no value”) to refocusing your identity another way (“well, I may not be as rich as they are, but I am much smarter!” or focus on how patriotic you are, or how spiritual, or any other prized pattern of the self that
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The left brain has created this illusion of self by noticing a pattern of categorical differences between you and others and combining those observations with memory, preferences, and the perspective of the “pilot,” who seems to be steering the ship of the brain and body. Our definition of self depends in part on our difference from others. There is no “me” without “not me.”
The trick is to become less identified with your thoughts, to not take them so seriously, to see them as “happenings” rather than “the way things really are.”
one of the core tenets of Eastern philosophies is emptiness and the notion that everything that exists arises from this emptiness. What allows us to notice this emptiness at all? Perhaps it is something we could call awareness or consciousness (something we will talk more about in a later chapter): simply the observance that the space is there.
In my view, believing that the left-brain interpreter is “you” is akin to looking at the night sky and believing the constellation Orion is really out there as an entity, rather than a group of stars seen from a particular angle, which the mind has made into a pattern and labeled.
This need for consistency supports the illusion of a solid self, unchanging and in control. But based on what we have learned so far, we might more accurately think of the self as a river whose form is in constant forward flow.
the right brain takes a more global approach to what it perceives. Rather than dividing things into categories and making judgments that separate the world, the right brain gives attention to the whole scene and processes the world as a continuum. Whereas the attention of the left brain is focused and narrow, the right brain is broad, vigilant, and attends to the big picture. Whereas the left brain focuses on the local elements, the right brain processes the global form that the elements create.2 The left brain is sequential, separating time into “before that” or “after this,” while the right
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the left brain is the language center and the right brain is the spatial center.
This is why I like to see the outline or TOC for a book spatially laid out before I begin
The most common answer from my students to the question “how did you do that?” is a blank look and the response, “I don't know, I just did it.” Dismissing this action as unconscious is a result of our overdependence on the language-based interpretative consciousness our interpretive pattern perceiver cannot imagine a world without.
I have uncommonly harmonious LH and RH. I actually am able to explain accurately why I do complex and strange things. My LH is cool with my RH
The practice of meditation in its various forms also brings you into right-brain consciousness.
The practice of mindfulness is about being in and observing reality rather than thinking about reality
This question reminds me of the old saying “You can't get there from here.” That is absolutely true when it comes to peering into the right-brain system from the left-brain system. Even if the left brain wants to go beyond itself, it can only go deeper into itself.
Comp. Sam Harris re nonduality
One of the primary teachings of Zen Buddhism is to bring your consciousness back to reality, saving it from being lost in the world of the abstract. When my class gets too lost in one abstraction after another, I will clap my hands together making a noise loud enough to startle students sleeping in the back. I remind them that at that point, for the moment they were startled by the clap, they were awake without thought: that is Zen.
Seung Sahn
One way to get more in touch with the right brain is to cut the left brain out of activities by doing them for no reason
I do this all the time. Touching patches of light, taking a picture because a frame wwas there, putting my hand on a tree stump, spinning 270 degrees. It's awesome.
Never underestimate the power of a single conscious breath to bring you out of a left-brain fantasy and back into the real world.
the right brain, devoid of ego and the need for credit, doesn't care—just as long as the change is made.
Yup! How i accept thanks
In the 1970s, psychology introduced a theory called “levels of processing,” but it could very well be called “levels of meaning.”3 The theory was very simple: if you process the meaning, you will remember it, but if you process only the surface features by just reading it to yourself or looking at the words, it will be forgotten.
Frankl believed that it is “the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.”
Without space, or emptiness, no separate things could exist. This suggests why Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, has such a romance with emptiness and space, because these things make everything else possible.
The right brain senses the world in parallel (all at once), while the left brain senses the world in series (one thing at a time).
There is something about space that slows the mind, since the mind has no way to understand it because it has no content and no container. Therefore, when we shift our awareness to it, the interpretive mind slows down.
When you listen to someone speak, or when you speak yourself, bring some attention to the silent space between the sounds.
Comp. Shinzen's Just Note Gone
I can't help but wonder if the wisdom referred to in prajnaparamita can only be understood by the right brain.
intuition in a nutshell: the right brain senses information that isn't available to the left-brain interpreter and sends it over in the form of what is described as an inspiration or gut feeling that the left brain can't quite put into words and so it has reached the end of its ability to understand how it knows what it knows.
Most intelligence tests measure verbal ability and reasoning, so if your vocabulary is extensive, you will be at the top of the traditional IQ food chain. Of course, you could lack social intelligence, empathy, and even self-awareness, but these are largely unmeasured on such tests in a left-brain-dominated culture.
individuals with greater influence from the right side of the brain are more self-reflective.
