Re. Sci-fi-romantik
Naturvidenskab er den laveste form for forståelse men den mest universelle form for menneskelig kommunikation.
Fra.
"Science, History and the Future"
http://unifiedscience.blogspot...com/
The foundation of the intellect
The human brain consists of two hemispheres, a left and a right, connected by an extremely thick band of nerve fibres - the corpus callosum.
The results of the past five decades of research have corroborated the fact that the two cerebral hemispheres are to a certain extent specialized. Whereas analytical, logical and linear thinking is the special function of the left hemisphere, the whole of the right hemisphere and parts of the left are normally devoted to perceiving things as a whole, i.e. to processing vast quantities of data simultaneously as one interacting totality. The results of this latter type of processing are thereafter expressed as pictures, intuitions, hunches and feelings.
The interesting thing about this research is that it has enabled us to acquire a deeper and more detailed understanding as to how the human brain employs two radically different methods of data processing.
Another approach to an understanding of the intellect is psychological. It is estimated that only about 10% of a person`s total psychological capacity is accessible in conscious form, whereas the remaining 90% is to be found in unconscious form, normally beyond the control of the individual`s will.
These different approaches to an understanding of the foundation of the intellect - via neuropsychology and psychology - are not contradictory, but simply illuminate the problem from different angles.
If we combine these two statements, we may conclude that only about 10% of the total psychological capacity is accessible in conscious form, and that the brain/psyche functions in two radically different ways.
A third approach has its origin in certain systems within oriental philosophy/psychology, and although they are not commonly known in our culture I consider them essential if we are to achieve a breakthrough as regards an understanding of man`s intellectual make up. This approach focuses on different levels of cognition and consciousness, which I shall attempt to clarify as follows.
The oriental philosophical traditions in question operate with seven different levels of consciousness. Although I personally find all of these levels of consciousness conceptually plausible, only the first three levels have any relevance here.
The first of these levels of consciousness is the crude level on which we regard everything as an either/or, right or wrong, good or bad, etc. On the second level we regard everything as both/and, both good and bad, both right and wrong, etc., while on the third we are able to regard things as totalities: things simply are.
The following example regarding the sun may serve to illustrate what I mean by these three categories or levels of consciousness:
AFSNIT UDELADT HER FORDI DET FYLDER FOR MEGET!
If we now combine the above conception of the levels of cognition/consciousness with the previously mentioned neuropsychological and psychological standpoints we begin to realize that the logical mode of functioning is not merely a function of the left cerebral hemisphere, but is also to be understood as the simplest mode our psyche has at its disposal. And its very simplicity is precisely its strength, because by utilizing an either/or - 0 or 1, good or bad, right or wrong - the object of communication becomes unequivocal and accessible to everyone, and therefore universally communicable.
The fact that this logical mode of functioning takes place on the simplest level of consciousness is also its weakness, however, because reality becomes dramatically constricted as compared with the indivisible totality.
It is essential to bear in mind that although pure first level communication enables us to express ourselves unequivocally and precisely, a means of communication that is based on series of either/or, 0 or 1, such judgements provides no basis for putting anything into perspective, for skipping any stages, or adding new elements.
In exercising our cognitive powers we do however not merely draw on our (max. 10%) logical and conscious brain capacity, but to a far greater extent on our (90%) unconscious brain functions, which are able to register totality, i.e. the greatest part of our cognitive processes are in the form of unconscious processes that are able to register totality. But in order to handle empirical observations with precision or to communicate unequivocally with other people, we return to the basic either/or, 0 or 1, first level type of communication.
The cognitive process
Remembering our starting point - that the universe consists of an "indivisible whole" - we can now establish that, as human beings, we are not merely capable of tackling single aspects of the "indivisible whole" - of moving laboriously, logically but unimaginatively up and down through an infinite chain of unequivocal logical deductions or reductions. Thanks to our unconscious brain functions, which enable us to perceive wholeness, we are also capable of raising our consciousness to the third or higher levels where we can establish contact with wider areas of the "indivisible whole" and thereby tackle problems and structures of great complexity. Contact with these complex problems and structures does not of course take place at random, but is, on the contrary, the result of a process in which we more or less consciously formulate what we are seeking or need on the one hand, and unconsciously "correlate" this with our enormous wholeness perceiving brain capacity on the other. When, ultimately, the result of this unconscious processing rises to the cognitive surface in the form of pictures, intuitions, hunches and feelings, it is up to our consciousness to maintain these impulses from the unconscious, and up to our conscious thought functions to assess, elaborate, sort and communicate them.
In reality the unconscious expresses itself incredibly precisely ........
