Review of Incognito Chapter 5: The Rivals of the Brain

Reviews | Moose

The Brain is a Team of Rivals.

Have you ever found yourself arguing with yourself? Arguing about decisions you may have made, and how disappointed you are with yourself for making such an impulsive decision?

If you haven't, please know that you are probably a robot. Or Superman. (Let me know!)

This past chapter of Incognito was another interesting one (I'm getting tired of saying this - at some point there has to be a boring chapter!!). It suggests that there are a number of different "experts" within the mind designed to determine the ultimate decision that should be made in a situation. Each 'expert' will then try to shout the loudest in order to make their suggestion the final decision.

An ultimate decision is made. And it is made by the most confident "persona" in that situation. Much like the typical Alpha Male persona that we see in the animal kingdom.

Side thought: The reason some people find it hard to be assertive is because the "expert" has not been fully developed.
Side side thought: Are we neglecting the persona that best fits us by being someone that we are not? (In fact, it has been really good to devote my time to this Patient Approach venture. I truly believe in the potential of mankind, and I genuinely know that I can change the world. By trying to find myself a job and put myself into a certain situation, how much time for development have I lost?)

When we find ourselves in a familiar situation, the action that we have become comfortable with (most often the action that didn't "harm us"), will become the desired action, and therefore, it will assertive itself as the voice in your head that deals with this situation. If I am not physically harmed by not chatting to that group of people, then as I am still alive, what can I be disappointed by?

It's about making yourself uncomfortable, so that you can allow yourself to grow.

In fact, by putting yourselves in the uncomfortable situation, the aspect that previously dominated your persona will diminish (just like if you keep putting yourself in your comfort zone, your desire to jump out of it will diminish).

No one was born a certain way. As human beings, we have the potential to quickly learn and grow, and ultimately, we can alter aspects that we are uncomfortable with. Put yourself in a situation that is unknown to you, and do it a number of times. Watch this have the positive benefits you desire.

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At the beginning of my read, after finishing the introduction, I asked whether we are all secretly Schizophrenics. I guess we are. Some persona's are more dominant in other people, and therefore, their different characters become more obvious.

Fascinating reading!

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You can buy the book anywhere, but if you're in the US or the UK, you can follow the respective linked amazon websites.

Review of Incognito: Chapter 4

Reviews | Moose

The most recent Chapter of Incognito is all about Instincts, detailing the thoughts that are embedded into our nature as human beings. Effectively, the brain is wired for our survival - which seems like a very obvious thing to say.

David Eagleman (or Engleman) introduces two ideas about reality:
- Umwelt - Which is effectively the part of the world that you are able to see
- Umgebung - The bigger reality

Your umwelt is what you experience, in terms of what you see, smell, hear, etc. The crazy thing to me is that there is another experience that is not mine. I mean, this is obvious, but if you look at the wider picture, there are so many ways that this can be summarised.

For example, I'm not colour blind. I cannot imagine what life would be like without the use of colours around me, the idea of seeing a young woman, and not being able to feel an excitement at the dark red lipstick she is wearing, or her blue eyes, her blonde, brunette, auburn hair. But every day there are people that are not able to witness these occurrences, these mixes of colours, but to them, this is their reality. They may be told that what they see is wrong, but they have learnt to adjust to their reality, and realistically, can they be wrong in what they say. (Something like this really makes me appreciate life, and the millions upon millions of lives that have lived, and the fact that they have all thought, and have lived different realities, all the way down to the smallest animal, or cell).

I'll use another example:
I heard a few years ago that dogs have 50x better smell than humans do. I can't imagine smelling more than I already do! There are some pretty foul smells out there, and I see my dog, on a regular occasion, smelling the arse of some other dog, or putting its nose into a pile of shit on the floor to get a better whiff of it. I was disgusted at this! I'm running out of the bathroom on a regular basis at some of the foul smells I produce, and here is this animal with 50x better smell...... Yet it is the reality that my dog lives. It wouldn't be too out of the question to suggest that dogs would not have survived this long without that ability to smell that they possess.

Here's another one that sent me crazy when I read it (would have been a mind fuck if I was high at the time):
We all know of the colour red, as an example. What if you saw the red that you know now, whereas I saw it as a Mustard colour. Ultimately, if we both accept it as the same thing, and it's universally known as red, what does it matter?

I wouldn't be able to put it any differently than Eagleman (Engleman) does:
"Our reality is our reality. It does not mean that it is the world out there. Just because someone may have a deficiency, such as blindness, it does not mean that they have any worse of an experience. It's just different."

There are so many different ways to live life, that we should not judge. We should just appreciate that situation that we have been put in and be happy with it.

What really interested me, though, is the idea of Instincts. I won't go into too much detail, because you need to read the book.

Basically though, it really emphasised the need to be myself. Forget about all the worries, all the pressures, because ultimately I am only human. And because I am human, I have desires. The way I should live, is that I should follow my desires when I have them. I should live by what I want, by what I need.

And it's given me a thought that I can use to improve on the novel that I have been planning.

Watch this space.

You can buy Incognito if you live in the US, the UK and anywhere else in the world, but I can't physically link every country!!

Moose Out.

Review of Incognito: Chapter 3

Reviews | Moose

So yesterday I found out that the authors name is David Eagleman, and not Engleman. I preferred it with an 'N', but so is life.

Chapter 3 of the most fascinating read was completed on the train this afternoon. I reiterate, there is not a more mind-stimulating book available. If you really want to understand yourself and others, I would highly suggest reading this book.

You can buy it here:
US
UK
Others - Quite an easy book to find, but I'm not going to link every country here! Don't judge me.

Chapter 3 is called 'The Mind - The gap', and it is mostly about the unconscious thinking we do, and how repeated conscious thinking can create that 'computer-like' tendency to be able to perform tasks with greater ease.

To summarise this chapter, it is all about doing something repeatedly to perfect an action, so that it becomes second nature. And that is when you think about something that it becomes difficult. For example, try this:
Let's suggest that someone is constantly beating you in tennis. They have practised much more than you have. Ask them how they became so good at a certain action, for example their backhand. This stimulates the brain to think, and it should put him off his game!
I will admit that this is an example from the book (copyright guys, please don't get me. I'm a simple man, and that example is as good as anything! Well done you David!!)

For me, this chapter has changed the way I am approaching certain situations.

I am someone who is not particularly effective at talking to someone that I do not know. In fact, in my head I will tell myself that I am going to do it, and may even have the perfect opener, but something always stops me (that something is obviously myself). In those times that I do go chat to someone, I will often falter and not be able to progress the situation much further, and then as I walk away have something incredibly intuitive to say. I'll laugh about it and move on. I like talking to people of course, and I also enjoy, in principle, the act of getting to know new people.

By reading this chapter, and having certain aspects of his his points explained to me in a way that is easily digestible, I know that to improve on this, I need to do it more often. To put myself in that situation more often, and as a result, my brain will be more efficient at knowing the right things to say quickly. Watch this space, but it is something I will be working on, and I will update you, my loyal readers.

And there are so many other things that I can do to improve on every day life, notably in training or writing. Writing here, for example, more often, will make me better at writing (though obviously I will need feedback, something you can help me with! We'll work on this together!). Similarly, writing about every day, the way the birds sing, the way the cold air hits my face will quite simply make it come across more effectively.

Simply, to become great at something, I need to work on practising it over and over again until I become an expert - "I'll do it on the day" will not suffice any more!

This may seem obvious to you, but putting it into context really helps. Hey, it's all about growth in life!

A couple more points interested me:
- Priming
Mentioned in the chapter is the fact that you can be primed to do something. Similarly, you can you are more likely to listen to a brand/slogan if you've heard it more often, as it becomes engrained into the mind, and you end up having a bias towards it.
- Ever wondered why basketball players will have a ritual before shooting a three-pointer?
Quite simply, it is a way of calming the mind to prevent thinking, and therefore to prevent you listening to the crowd. You will perform a regular task that you are used to that allows you to go into autopilot and take the shot.

So instead of hearing the bullshit quotes about 'don't think when you go into a situation', and many of a similar nature, I'm going to revise it:

Go into a situation, and keep doing that over and over again, so that you won't have to think about it again!

Maybe that's why I'm able to clarify my thoughts in the shower.... Hmmmm.....

Moose out!

Review of Incognito: Chapter 2

Reviews | Moose

I will say it again. Incognito is the most fascinating read of any book. Period. (That I have read. And I'm not sure that I've even said talked about its fascination to you guys, but I've definitely thought it, and I guess that is my mind creating memories for me - A nice little on topic comment there!).

Fascinating. If you want a read that will stimulate your mind and get you thinking, then I urge you to read it!

Buy in the US here.
Or in the UK here.
I'm sure you can get it in any other book store/amazon if you do not live in these countries.

Chapter 2 - The Testimony of the Senses.

In short, you cannot trust your brain as there are so many external stimuli that can affect its processing. The chapter finishes with the sentiment that fighter pilots are told to "Trust your Instruments". As opposed to your senses. This reminds me of a story that I heard of a group of fighter pilots returning, after the conclusion of the Second World War, from a routine flight just off Florida. The lead pilot saw a group of islands, thinking it was the Florida Keys and believed that he was well of course. He decided that he didn't trust the instruments, instead putting faith in his own knowledge. To cut a long story short, instead of heading North back to Florida, the team ended up flying East further into the ocean until the planes ran out of fuel and they crashed into the ocean. The instruments were later found to have been working fine. Trust your instruments.

I mean, obviously trust the brain to some extent, but do not believe everything that your mind is telling you.

Some interesting thoughts that I found out:
- The Brain works on a 'Need to Know'.
This means that it will pay attention to any stimulus that it needs to. This means, to me, that when you need to focus on a certain thing, the brain will do so. This can be anything on the level of needing to escape from a life and death situation, where the brain will focus all it's energies on Survival and escape. Even when you are asked to study a certain aspect of a photo or portrait, the eyes will pay attention to certain aspects of the artwork and make assumptions based on that.

It got me thinking about the aspect of using focus to enter the 'game mode' as an athlete. I play American Football, and I asked myself what I do to get myself in that mindset to play. What music do I use? What do I think about? What may distract me? And if I look back on my previous performances, the mindset that I go into the game, definitely affects how I have played in the past. Definitely something for me to pay attention to in the future.

- The Brain misses things that it isn't concentrating on.
Interestingly, on this point, there is a blind spot in your vision which is actually significant enough to impair your vision. It is important to note that the brain will actually fill in aspects that it needs to in order to account for this downfall of our vision, creating what it thinks will be there.

It is a reason why, statistically, you are more likely to be in a motor accident near your home. Being comfortable with your surroundings, and knowing what you NEED to know, you may miss certain aspects of what is going on around you. You may miss that pedestrian crossing the road, or that motorbike driving along, because your brain effectively becomes lazy, and your mind has created the stimulus that it believes is there in that moment.

- Senses have to be learned by the brain.
Firstly, it is important to note that there are more senses than just sight, sound, touch, etc. They are the obvious ones of course, but there are other ways that the brain uses certain information. For example, learning how to catch. Your brain does not exactly know where it is going to land, as in accounting for wind, velocity, etc, it just learns to keep the body running and you will eventually cross paths with it. Therefore, as a Defensive Back, in American Football, in order to help myself to gain more interceptions in the season, I would be doing justice to my performance by having someone throw to me and judging the flight of the ball for myself. This is something that I have actually been implementing in my on field workouts.

It also may explain why pass catchers in the NFL have a tougher time catching balls thrown my a left handed QB than a right handed one, and why receivers need to put time into 'meshing with the on-field distributor of the ball.

- Seeing has very little to do with the eyes.

Ultimately, it is all about the way that the brain uses the information. I will let the book explain this when you read it, but I thought it was important to note that through the manipulation of nerves in the tongue, or the back, a blind person can "see" their surroundings. In fact, this has been used to help people see more effectively in the dark and in murky waters, and could be the next step in creating superhumans! (I added that bit in, of course. The book is too high-brow for that kind of thing. Of all the powers I could have though, I wouldn't choose the ability to see in the dark. I guess I will have to wait for the ability to turn invisible, or even stop time....)

It got me thinking though, what else could we do to manipulate the senses of the brain. Eventually, could we use it to cure Depression or other mental disorders? That's a question I would like to delve into. Let's finish the book first though!

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There is so much more about the chapter, but these are things that really interested me in particular.

I'm currently reading Chapter 3, and should have an update on that very soon (as early as tomorrow).

Before I go though, I will leave you on one thought that interested me in the conclusion of the Chapter:
"We are not conscious of most things until we ask questions about them."

Get asking guys! Who know's what you may find.

Moose Out.

Review of Incognito: Chapter 1

Reviews | Moose

I've started reading David Engelman's critically acclaimed book 'Incognito'.

The blurb introduces a number of questions to gather momentum for the book:
- Why does your foot hit the brake pedal before you are conscious of danger going ahead?
- Why do you hear your name in a conversation that you didn't think you were listening to?
- Why is a person whose name begins with J more likely to marry another person whose name begins with J?
- Why is it so difficult to keep a secret?
- And how is it possible to get angry at yourself: who, exactly, is mad at whom?

These are all questions that end the first chapter as well, which serves, as with most books, as an introduction into his concept, and the human knowledge of 'The Mind' as something working separately from the conscious self, and the conscious thought.

The first chapter, labelled 'There's Someone in my Head, But it's Not Me' introduces the concept beautifully, and, through reading it, I immediately learnt things about the history of 'The Mind' that I did not know.

I will be looking at some of the idea's presented in his book, though still suggesting that you buy it of course, and introduce you to my state of thinking as I'm reading the book, which will include general 'Streams of Thinking' I have on certain points.

With the first chapter being an Introduction in itself, I will not go into any real detail, but here are some initial thoughts I had this morning, in finishing the first chapter, that I hope will get an answer by the end of the book:
- Are we all Schizophrenic?
- How does the mind understand the world? And what does it perceive?
- How exactly do the neurons use light to give you an understanding of what you're seeing? (And a thought on that, how can we help blind people regain their thoughts by exercising this neurons)
- Are we ever one characteristic or the other as is suggested by conventional media? It almost seems, reading the book and looking at my own self, that there can be a conflict between different parts of you, so maybe there is a scale.
- What is MY true state?

These questions may appear stupid, but it is something I am really interested in finding out.

Buy the book in the UK, the US, or any other Amazon links that I cannot be arsed to search for.

Moose Out!