By: Robert DeWester

Robert DeWester — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:38:05 +0000

Faber’s thesis has lots of merit, but does not fit totally within the contexts of the biological development and functioning of the brain, as I am understanding such. Simply put, informatiion I have gleaned from serveral neuroscientists about brain development and function indicate that for our brains to grow the needed synaptic/dendritic circuits “wiring” up the 100 billion neurons we are born with so that we begin having a conscious mind/memory by about 2 1/2 yrs. of age, this biological growth is dependent upon the social connection to loving parent(s). Indeed, the social/emotional input to the brain even alters how genes function is what they cause to secrete to influence the biology of the brain. Serveral neuroscientists indicate that emotion is fuel for the brain. A brain low on fuel is a dieing brain. A well-fueled brain is a surviving, even thriving brain. And when does the brain stop needing fuel to run on? Indeed, at age 30, I discovered a mountain of emotional pain in myself over my father’s lack of emotional, loving-reception presence for me as I grew up. Finally, at age 50, I discovered that my single greatest need is to feel lovingly received, everything I do can readily be identified as having something to do to put me in an avenue for receiving at least a little more loving reception to fuel my brain. Prof. Joseph LeDoux (THE SYAPTIC SELF) presents a model of the brain having three systems–emotion, cognition, motivation. Based on my studies of the information available from neuroscientists’ publications and connecting that info. to the dots of the multiplicity of behaviors and beliefs of everyday human life, the brain is continually seeking to maintain a delicate balance among all the chemicals our bodies are made of and the needed emotional/social fuel input to stay alive and even thrive. The picture shapes up that our brains are in a 24 hour, 7 days a week, life long struggle for survival. The brain is not seeking to regress into a memory of the past dependence upon an omnipotent parent but seeking to receive the loving reception the brain survives and thrives on, even if it has to resort to seeking such through an imaginary sky-parent. The clues suggest the brain is not past-looking but forward-seeking. From many clues and evidence, the brain is seeking to reach its genetically programmed maturity, the same as the rest of the body seeks to grow to its genetically programmed maturity. According to an hypothesis which brings together such evidence and clues strongly suggests that our brains are hungry, even desperate to reach maturity which is a brain in-balance or in-harmony among its three systems–emotion, cognition, motivation. Deprive a brain of the emotion/fuel it needs and it becomes a dangerous brain–dangerous cognition (hostile, murderous, suicidal thoughts) with dangerous motivations (wanting to kill who (an enemy) is perceived as starving the brain of its needed fuel, as in the teen-age Mendes brothers killing their father, as in Scott Peteson killing his wife Lacy and unborn son because she began turning her emotional energy (survival for Scott’s brain) away from Scott to her growing son, Conner; as in one religious group concluding that to kill enough infidels will remove enough enemies to bring in the kingdom of God to bring in paradise). Neuroscientist Erik Kandel observes about our brains having an amazing ability for self-deception. Cordelia Fine’s Book (A MIND OF ITS OWN) documents via many studies such self-deception. In the brain’s cognition processing of data to assist the brain in learning to survive, even thrive, it uses symbols to communicate (language) and to process its struggles and inner conflicts to survive (dreams, mythical conccepts such as heaven, paradise (which was a garden in Greece). My psychological and theological paradigms of the past are changing signficantly as I learn more about the biological basis of beliefs and behaviors.

Comments on: 05-07-15

By: Robert DeWester