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General Science / Re: Do words and phrases give us qualia?
« on: 17/10/2015 13:56:44 »Again, it comes back to how memory is created. Feelings are attached to thoughts when our memory is written to the cerebral. This places various memories, with similar valence, on specific layers. Layers can be multi-dimensional. For example, if I feel hungry, the types of food that might appear in my imagination, connected to the hunger layer, is not always the same. These memories can change, by being connected to the time of day (breakfast or lunch) the day of the week (Monday or Friday) seasonal (summer or winter) and even based on holiday. Hunger on New Years will trigger a different area of the layer than hunger on the first day of summer. There is a lot on this layer, with time and space connections being used as secondary tags that give the layer volume.
Depression has its own layer based on its unique emotional tone, with this layer also spread out over time such as morning and night, winter and summer. Because the depression layers has its own unique emotional tone, you can't pull love and meaning memories into the depression layer, beyond an intellectual exercise, unless you can make the brain add the wrong emotional tag to those memories; depressed/love. This is not natural and will not work in the long term.
You need to get away from the depression memory layer, and move to a layer where there are better emotions for a happy life. The problem with some drugs is these may shut off the depression layer, but often one becomes numb to others emotions. The depression can stop but still there is no meaning due to now strong layer. This is why I suggested an external source of demand on your attention, that can generated fun and delight for a secondary layer to appear through an external induction.
A few years back, I wanted to get back into shape, but I did not have the discipline to exercise on a regular basis. This was not due to depression. However the same basic layer dynamics were at work. I was stuck on a lazy layer of relaxation and holiday, such that the motivating emotion needed to be in shape ran hollow to m. I could reason at the intellectual level the need for exercise, but there was no feeling behind the thought that could drive me into that reality. There was a disconnect between the words.
I bought a Doberman male puppy who was from a European work dog line. I did not fully understand what a work dog meant. I thought it was all about looks and being larger. What doberman work dog meant was an extremely high drive dog with aggression issues, than needed to be molded into a job. I could not be lazy, even if I wanted to, because his endless drive and activity would push and challenge me. He pushed me, like a trainer, over the hump into a new layer.
As he got older, he got bigger, faster, smarter and even more scary and would challenge me for pack order. Some days I would need to have a weapon to feel on par. He enjoyed playing fighting with me. He wanted me to stay in the moment, in full control as the alpha of the pack. If I got lazy and/or wanted to regress backwards, he would think he needed to be alpha, and my boss. That was not going to happen. Eventually I become more confident, in good shape, and he became easier to handle.
I would not suggest a protection style work dog, but rather a breed of dog who is sweet and who likes being with you, who can help you to cycle into a new layer. Golden Retrievers are sweet highly intelligent dogs with good energy and a happy disposition.
But what I am asking here is that even if you did have a positive layer in your life, but felt depression due to a chemical imbalance or mental defect that has nothing to do with your outlook on life, then as long as the depression is keeping those chemicals that make you happy turned off, then wouldn't this positive layer be useless then? It might be there, but it cannot bring you any happiness as long as the chemicals responsible for your experience of happiness are turned off. Sure, that layer might eventually ease up your depression over time and might perhaps bring back some happiness for you. But you have to understand here that there are many depressed people who are treatment resistant who cannot get such betterment in their lives.
There is something else that exists in conjunction with the layers of memory. The operating system for the human mind is grounded on personality firmware. These were called archetypes of the collective unconscious by the late psychologist Carl Jung. I like the term personality firmware, because it describes these pliable aspects of the brain's conscious operating system, using computer analogy. The personality firmware defines our natural human propensity; human nature. These are common to all humans and characterize us a species. The lion has different firmware geared to his/her nature common to their species.
These firmware are grounded in our human genetics and are empty of content at birth. They develop through genetic potential (like your feet growing) as well as through interaction wth the environment. A good analogy for the firmware are seeds. The tomato seed is small and does not look like a tomato plant. However, even as a seed, it contains the genetic potential to grow into a full mature plant that makes its characteristic fruit. If you ever grew tomatoes, the final plant is not only dependent on the genetics of the seeds (breeder pack), but it is also on the environmental conditions. Things like light, temperature, rain, soil pH, nutrients, shade, bugs, weeds, virus, can all impact the final plant.
The memory layers are not only connected to the common emotional tags, but these common emotional tags also have a connection to the personally firmware. As an example, if one falls in love, the firmware of love will become active. This is common too all humans. This is not done with the will but seems to be trigger by fate. Once active, the firmware paints the world with rose colored glasses; emotional tagging, and may even trick the imagination to see the beloved in a mythological way; most beautiful person in the world. Your fiends may not see the same thing.
The firmware plant is growing via the DNA. The growth is motiving us to collect data for its connected layer; learning potential, that is flavored by the emotion of the firmware; love and desire. The firmware of love, like the tomato plant can have good soil or bad soil and may grow well or may show stress. Falling out of love is often due to the growth spurt stopping so other firmware can active and develop. Love is work at this point and you need to depend on the memories to reinforce the love by triggering the bridge layer, then adding to this.
One tomato plant, from one seed in the pack, may become huge with lots of fruit, but in another seed from the same pack can become mutant looking due to toxic soil. If the plant was made toxic, you can't just pretend all is well and this will be the best crop ever. The firmware will have this lingering impact. You need to dig up the plant, trim it back, and then replant it somewhere else, more conducive to healthy growth. There will be a transition period until new growth appears.
The firmware are not software or hardware. It is not all in the mind or all hard wired by biology. It has a genetic component that makes it firm, but pliable organic, and also a software component; conscious memory layer. It is pliable and like a plant can be trimmed back and repotted. They are perennials. The dog suggestion was based on repotting the active depressed firmware, with the constant need of the puppy, trimming the bad branches. As the the new branches appear these will grow and drive the collection of new memories, to populate that layer. Nature wants us to be healthy and happy.