This Brain on Curiosity

I have had the distinct privilege of studying the brain. Oh, the incredible, fascinating, intense, dynamic brain! My study has been twofold. I have watched a decades-long emergence of my own mind from a primordial fog of distractions and thoughts. I also have some book learning of the anatomy and function of this astoundingly complex loaf of gray matter. What happens when the chocolate bar of mindfulness and the peanut butter of neuroscience come together... two great tastes in one!

(I can't resist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJLDF6qZUX0)

Okay, I freely admit that few of my friends (read: none) are as deeply fascinated and in love with the brain as I am. It calls to me, saying "Caroline, I am your brain, come to the nerdy side". And I follow its call like the brain-o-philic college student that I am. But as that process has unfolded, I have encountered some complex dilemmas.

I started adulthood wanting to wear the rose-colored glasses of Eastern religion. I wanted to be a peace-loving, granola-eating , tree-hugging, mystical hippie. Yeah, that happened. I was pretty much happy with that. I wore Birkenstocks. Then education got in the way and my worldview became increasingly more complex. Yes, there is beauty in complexity, but there is also confusion.

Ohm, baby!

I study psychology. A science. Some call it a "soft" science. But that makes it sound like a jellyfish; wishy-washy and spineless. A lot of what I've learned is "hard" science. For example, neuroanatomy, neurotransmission, and lots of empirical research (behavior is pretty darn observable).  During this incredible learning journey, new information and beliefs have head-butted my highly impressionable hippie self into a mud puddle.

One question has resonated throughout my brain. Over and over. "How do I reconcile science and mysticism?" I am passionate about both, but they aren't like peas and carrots (which apparently go together delightfully). Rather, they are like WWE actors: beating each other up with their dogmas, throwing insults and generally being utterly self-centered toddlers. In my perspective, science is just as much faith-based as, well, faith. "What's your evidence?", you ask. When I am refuting science with mysticism, I can only reply with "Empirical evidence is illusory."

I look to ancient texts for my decidedly non-empirical "evidence". The Bhagavad Gita hints that all matter is illusory. In this ancient tome, Lord Krishna, by way of some outrageous wordiness, states somewhat cryptically that our shared belief in the material realm brings about its existence. Our collective agreement is that we Earthly beings will share the same sensory input signals, neural processing, and interpretation that allows us to perceive a shared physical world. Believe and Perceive = critical concepts here.

If you've ever connected with the divine, a perception wholly distinct from any physical sensations, then you know (and I mean, you KNOW), that the spirit realm is as valid and feels as tangible as the material plane, if not more so. It is manifested in a deep psychological sense of completeness, connectedness and equanimity, as well as all the physical behaviors that originate from this superabundant space. If you've never had that enlightening experience, make a routine of sitting quietly for a short time each day. It may take time, but you'll get there and its SO worth the effort.

(People who have had near death experiences claim a profoundly deep connection with beings on the other side - an experience so "tangible" and so acute that it defies logic. It feels so real, it is almost painful - I told you it was illogical. I know this only because as I am one of those eccentrics who has had the pleasure of this other-worldly experience, which some day I will elaborate on.)

What does the science say? It appears we are wired to experience a mystical state of connection with the divine. It is in this enlightened state that the neurons in certain parts of our brain align and fire together, which is different from how the brain functions most of the time. We could call these parts of the brain the "Selflessness Foci". They override, or at least reduce activity in the part of our brain that I dub the "Center for Self-Centeredness" (i.e. the Medial Prefrontal Cortex). The brain itself wants to be in a mystical state (I have often heard my brain shouting "Chill, sister! Chill!"). That's because in this state we experience high levels of creativity and loving-kindness. Pain and sorrow cease to exist. We are in a state of wellbeing and our attention is laser-focused. Its really no wonder that our brain wants to hang out in the love zone. To borrow a hippie phrase, it helps us to "be the change we want to see in the world", and that is empowering.

Science, as you know, tells us that anything that can't be explained empirically (with observable, repeatable evidence), is invalid. Empiricism would explain that those powerful, life-altering mystical states are the result of certain neurons firing rather than the cause of certain neurons firing. The radical behaviorist movement, an ultimate exercise in empiricism, was a result of the operant conditioning experiments by the psychologist B.F. Skinner half a century ago. Learning about radical behaviorism broke my worldview.  It is antithetical to mysticism. A sad state of confusion engulfed me until I remembered that it is possible to hold opposite worldviews at the same time. This balancing act has resulted in a little uncomfortable cognitive dissonance at times. But it had to be done (When things seemingly don't fit together, you get creative to find ways to make them fit). How did I do this? I determined that Skinner never had a mystical experience in his life. The intensity of the mystical experience is so great, that it would have caused him at least some doubt of his tightly-held beliefs (i.e. that truth is limited to the physical plane). For me, that determination was enough to ease some of my cognitive dissonance.

So does the biology of the brain actually create the mystical state, or does it exist separate from the brain? Good question.  One thing that is changing the game is that science is hypothesizing the quantum mind. This hypothesis proposes that certain experiences (i.e. consciousness) break the logic of classical physics, which is the basis for our understanding of how the brain works. Could it be that the mind is a quantum phenomenon? We can now study quantum behaviors in atoms, so why not?

 It is my hope that one day our minds will be blown when we are able explain through quantum mechanics that experiences of the mind are actually a marriage of the mystical and physical. Until then, I am reconciled, or at least committed to holding the paradox and welcoming all of the information and experience I can get my hands on. And eating Reese's peanut butter cups.