First Blog

Your Mental Toolkit --- It’s Huge   Introduction. No aliens. No animals. Only us humans. Humans operate at multiple levels, from the primitive to the highly intellectual, from skilled labor to the space engineer, and so on. All of us, with the same brains, do similar things in similar ways. In considering all the mental abilities we have, it is important to understand how we live and what we can do. In the first part of this essay, the foundations of the mind’s activity at various levels are discussed. In almost every case, they require training – the period of growing up. Even still they are distributed in unequal quantities between individuals. It is reasonable to suggest that the child growing up serves as a family apprentice, implying children were students long before there were schools.   Early tribes needed some rules to follow, plus many taboos about danger. The great modern civilizations also need rules to be sure but more than that, they need theories and beyond.

Your brain is nature’s first attempt to manage big data. a. Too much and it dysfunctions. b. Some brains get filled but get cluttered like a dump. c. The best examples are those who can tease out what's needed when it's needed.  d. Some have the power to discard the irrelevant. e. Many keep working, always working on a problem.   f. Problem solving ability?  Use it or lose it.  g. Solving the hypothetical is like working out. It is possible that newer developments and needs by humanity to survive in the age of data, the next step in evolution has begun. It will favor a brain with adaptive, algorithmic sensibility.  It may be a rapid transition. In a previous evolutionary step, the brain with abilities to seek different food was favored. The hunter was born. To make and use tools to kill was another step to favor the hunter. The tool maker evolved.

Keep your brain working .  It is your best asset. Use it every day.   ·        Read a book. ·        Challenge a colleague. ·        Know your investments. ·        Understand your profession. ·        Talk to your kids. ·        Learn something you don't know. Examples. Do you know how to cook? (Experience) Do you know how your microwave works? (Requires a little physics) Do you know how IP addresses work? (It's not hard.) Do you know what Artifical Intelligence means?  (It's easier than you think.) Do you know why those big jets take off? (Simple ideas when you understand pressure) Do you know what love is? (Difficult, if possible) Do you understand when earthquakes will occur? (Nobody does) Do you know why the stock market goes up or down? (Ditto) Do you know how to teach? (Just plain difficult)