| ="body"> | | | | The Thought-Shaping Brain and Brain-Shaping Thought |
| Who we are and who we become are dependent | | | | Recent scientific investigations into the relationship |
| upon the thoughts we persistently think. Since they are | | | | between the mind and the brain have revealed that |
| so important and influential in the development - or | | | | mere thought can, and does, shape brain matter. There |
| stunting - of our lives it begs the question, "Where do | | | | is now scientific proof of William James' comment that |
| our thoughts come from? | | | | the mind, once stretched by a new idea, can never |
| The fact that human beings are able to think raises | | | | return to its original dimensions. |
| some additional intriguing questions. To what degree is | | | | Many in the field of neuroscience today believe that |
| thinking under the control of the thinker? Is the act of | | | | thought can only result from physical activities in the |
| thinking under the sole discretion of the one doing the | | | | brain; that is, chemical and electrical impulses caused |
| thinking? Are thoughts the unique expression of the | | | | by physical stimuli both inside and outside the body. But |
| pure volition of the individual mind or are there other | | | | many have begun to study the challenge posed by the |
| factors at play, as well? | | | | Dalai Lama when he recently asked brain surgeons if |
| Every adult human being experiences life within two | | | | the mind could shape brain matter and if thought alone |
| distinct realms that together comprise and define | | | | could change the brain's activity, its circuits and |
| personal reality. Within the context of this article, the | | | | connections and even its structure. |
| answers to the questions posed above will emerge | | | | In the January 19, 2007 edition of the Wall Street |
| from our discussion of these two realms of reality. | | | | Journal, Sharon Begley summarized her book, "Train |
| The Two Realms of Reality | | | | Your Mind, Change Your Brain." She writes, "In the last |
| The first realm is the body. It contains the brain and its | | | | decade of the 20th century, neuroscientists overthrew |
| ability to think both reflexively and reflectively. Life itself | | | | the dogma that the adult brain can't change. To the |
| for every living being exists only in terms of a unique | | | | contrary, its structure and activity can morph in |
| physical presence. From this perspective, there can be | | | | response to experience, an ability called neuroplasticity." |
| no disembodied manifestation of life. In this realm, we | | | | "Attention . . . seems like one of those ephemeral |
| experience life in personal and subjective terms. Our | | | | things that comes and goes in the mind but has no real |
| bodies limit but at the same time focus our | | | | physical presence. Yet attention can alter the layout of |
| experiences of life. We are literally at the center of the | | | | the brain as powerfully as a sculptor's knife can alter a |
| universe - our universe - because our physical | | | | slab of stone." |
| presence necessarily places us in the middle of | | | | An intense study of monkeys that were trained to pay |
| everything around us, no matter where we are. This | | | | attention to either sound or touch demonstrated that, |
| has a significant impact on how we think of ourselves | | | | as the researcher Michael Merzenich commented, |
| and about the world around us. | | | | "through attention we choose and sculpt how our |
| Human life exists within multiple social contexts. This is | | | | ever-changing minds will work. We choose who we |
| the second realm within which we all live, move and | | | | will be the next moment in a very real sense, and |
| have our being. What we think about ourselves is | | | | these choices are left embossed in physical form on |
| shaped to some degree by what we think others think | | | | our material selves." |
| of us. Each of us is equipped with a subconscious | | | | On-going study of the meditation practices of Tibetan |
| "radar" that constantly sends out signals, both visible | | | | Buddhist monks has demonstrated that they are able |
| and invisible, that "bounce off" whatever is around us, | | | | to produce and sustain certain powerful brain waves |
| especially other people. We then sift through the | | | | that essentially meld several aspects and functions of |
| signals that come back to us looking for how others | | | | various parts of the brain into a higher state of |
| are reacting to us and, consequently, how we should | | | | consciousness. This elevated state endured even |
| behave. | | | | though the monks were not actually meditating. "In |
| Specifically, we're looking for positive signs that | | | | each case, monks with the most hours of meditation |
| reassure us that we are being taken seriously and | | | | showed the most dramatic brain changes. That was |
| appreciated and respected by those around us. But | | | | the strong hint that mental training makes it easier for |
| we're also acutely attuned to the negative "vibes" we | | | | the brain to turn on circuits that underlie compassion |
| sometime detect others giving off in our direction. We | | | | and empathy." |
| take most of our cues about how to act and how to | | | | Choosing to think in certain ways and to act on those |
| view ourselves from the various social landscapes we | | | | thoughts by moving your body to alter your |
| find ourselves in throughout our lives. | | | | environment in specific ways constitutes the freedom |
| The Public and Private Conditions of Thought | | | | of thought and will that is integral to the development |
| When I'm in public I comport myself in a way that I think | | | | and sustenance of a healthy and growing personality. |
| others would approve of and perhaps even admire. | | | | And this is the basis for any caring community and |
| The social environment that surrounds me at any | | | | culture of compassion. |
| particular moment is the primary brush with which my | | | | The Benefits and Burdens of Habit |
| mental landscape is painted. It is within this landscape | | | | We make our habits by the thoughts we persistently |
| that my thoughts arise and my decisions about how to | | | | think and the choices we consistently make regarding |
| direct and act upon those thoughts are made. | | | | whether or not to act on them. Then our habits of |
| Since behavior stems from thinking, everything I do | | | | doing and not doing make - or break - us. Habits |
| when I'm in public is directed in large measure by the | | | | essentially take the thinking out of acting. |
| social environment in which I find myself, filling as it | | | | This is both a good and a bad thing. It's good in that |
| does my physical and psychological senses with its | | | | you don't have to think about how to tie your shoe |
| distinct stimuli. The image I have of myself is largely a | | | | every time you do it. There are many daily activities |
| social construction whose reality emerges from how I | | | | we engage in that we've committed to memory. We |
| perceive the specific external environments I find | | | | do them without having to think about how to do them. |
| myself in and their requirements of me to act in certain | | | | This shortcut saves not only time but reduces |
| acceptable ways. | | | | aggravation, confusion and doubt as to whether you're |
| When I'm alone I find my thoughts arising from a place | | | | doing the right thing in the right way. Habit is what you |
| within me that, when I'm in public, remains dormant and | | | | do when you're not thinking about what you're doing. It |
| inaccessible. I experience an interior environment that is | | | | makes life more efficient and less cluttered with |
| private and, if I so choose, unfiltered by social | | | | unnecessary thoughts and activities. The results of a |
| constraints. Even though it has been shaped by years | | | | habit are good if what you "do by heart" is supportive |
| of social conditioning from repeated experiences and | | | | of personal growth and compassionate behavior |
| repetitive "traditioning" (lessons taught by many people | | | | toward others. |
| as to the validity and verity of certain ways of thinking | | | | But habit can be bad not just in the sense of having a |
| and acting), I feel this inner environment should be a | | | | bad habit, the results of which are not supportive of |
| place where I'm free to create my own personal | | | | personal growth and compassionate behavior toward |
| reality, even one that contradicts and challenges any | | | | others. Any kind of habit constricts the brain's physical |
| existing social mores and status quo morality. | | | | dimensions and hinders its continued growth to |
| However, just as my thoughts stem from the social | | | | accommodate and create new ways of thinking and |
| environment around me when I'm in public, so, too, the | | | | idea formation. Begley cites research that |
| thoughts that arise from a place deep within me are | | | | demonstrates that when new thoughts and activities |
| not always under my control. They seem to come out | | | | become second nature and performed without need |
| of nowhere and thrust themselves upon me | | | | of attentiveness, they lose their ability to stimulate brain |
| disregarding my current emotional state of being. I find | | | | structure growth and development. |
| myself frequently at the mercy of a confluence of | | | | Therefore, always choose to do something different, |
| influences biological and psychological that overwhelm | | | | something unusual for you. Be aggressive in growing |
| my private thinking with unwelcome notions and | | | | your brain and its ability to think increasingly better |
| desires. | | | | thoughts that will result in increasingly better choices. |
| The freedom of thought I think I should have in my | | | | Make it a habit to constantly challenge your habits - |
| own mind is not unfettered. In fact, it is very much | | | | good and bad! |
| determined by the existential realities of human nature | | | | What You Think Means More Than You Think |
| and society. These realities create the mental and | | | | Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Theologian of the |
| emotional universe within which all of my thoughts are | | | | nineteenth century, wrote that the reader has the |
| born, nurtured and manifested. | | | | ability to understand the author better than the author |
| Put another way, my mind is contained within a limited | | | | can understand him or herself. There is always a |
| realm of possible thoughts. I cannot think beyond the | | | | personal physical, mental and emotional context as well |
| limits of my human nature and its social contexts. | | | | as a broader social and cultural context within which |
| These are the boundaries within which I am able to | | | | we live, move and have our being. These contexts are |
| think and beyond which thought is unknown and | | | | composed of numerous facts and factors many of |
| unknowable. Every thought that appears to be "out of | | | | which we are totally unaware of. We are always |
| this world," one that soars above the surly bonds of | | | | influenced and often driven by these dynamics |
| earth or that appears to visit the mind "from above" | | | | unbeknownst to us. It's usually only when some time |
| nevertheless feels the weight of a humanity bound by | | | | passes that we are able to catch sight of the truth |
| its earthliness. It arises from its mental womb and | | | | behind our past behavior and thoughts. |
| perpetually bears the marks of its birth. | | | | We've all been able to trace hitherto unknown patterns |
| Thought and Action | | | | in our behavior when recalling our experiences after |
| Thinking, both reflexive and reflective, is what the brain | | | | the passage of time. Sometimes we can get the big |
| does. It reflexively maintains and protects the body | | | | picture almost immediately. Other times, it takes much |
| without which it could not survive. This involuntary brain | | | | longer, perhaps years or decades, to discover the true |
| activity is a form of thinking, albeit at the subconscious | | | | meaning of our actions. |
| level. All forms of thinking, even conscious reflective | | | | It's true that "hindsight is 20/20" and this is similar to |
| thought, is really nothing more than electrical and | | | | what Kierkegaard was saying. But he was saying |
| chemical energy combined and arranged in certain | | | | something more, as well. People who live at a time |
| ways. These thoughts signify nothing in and of | | | | removed from those whom they read are able to see |
| themselves. In Lewis Carroll's "Alice Through the | | | | more clearly the contexts within which the authors |
| Looking Glass," Humpty Dumpty proclaims, "when I use | | | | lived and are better able to discern those social and |
| a word, it means exactly what I say it means - nothing | | | | personal influences that were at play moving them to |
| more, nothing less. The same is true of thoughts: they | | | | write, act and think as they did. They can perceive a |
| mean only what the thinker thinks they mean - nothing | | | | broader scope, deeper dimensions and a fuller range |
| more, nothing less. | | | | of significance of what the author wrote. They can |
| Furthermore, thought does not automatically translate | | | | see beyond the words and distinguish unintended but |
| into action. To activate the potential life-changing | | | | nevertheless legitimate meanings of their messages. |
| power of your thoughts, you need to do more than | | | | This is true for other people in our lives who |
| think. You need to choose to do something with what | | | | necessarily see us differently than we see ourselves. |
| you think. You need to put your body in motion in a | | | | They are removed from our inner life and can |
| way that facilitates the realization of your thoughts. | | | | observe us from a vantage point that we can never |
| Putting your thoughts into words and expressing them | | | | occupy ourselves. In other words, they can know us |
| verbally is an act of intentionality. Choosing to write is | | | | better in some ways than we can know ourselves. |
| another action that translates thought into tangible | | | | They can observe our actions divorced from our intent |
| expressions. Setting about doing something that results | | | | and judge what we actually do without the taint of |
| in a changed physical environment is a further act of | | | | what we intended to do. It's true that we judge others |
| one's will to manifest invisible thoughts in the external | | | | by their actions but judge ourselves by our intentions. |
| world. | | | | The Scottish poet Robert Burns put it succinctly: "Oh |
| The Motivation to Act on Your Thoughts | | | | wad some power the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as |
| What motivates the thinker to take action on the | | | | others see us!" ("To a Louse," 1786). |
| thought and to translate it into reality? The motives to | | | | Knowing Yourself Involves More Than Yourself |
| take action do not lie within the thoughts themselves. | | | | We cannot be aware of all external and internal |
| Thoughts are merely mental activity. They are simply | | | | factors that motivate us to act. However, as |
| bits of subjective data. | | | | mentioned above, we can gain a broader |
| To help us answer this question, we need to | | | | Self-understanding with the passage of time and with |
| understand the process the brain goes through to | | | | the help of others who can provide us with the view |
| determine whether or not to act on a conscious | | | | of ourselves as others see us. Only then can we |
| thought. In the path from thought through action into | | | | obtain a fuller perspective of who we are. We cannot |
| reality the brain objectifies itself by becoming an | | | | know ourselves by ourselves. |
| observer as well as the originator of this process. This | | | | Francis Quarles, who lived in the early Seventeenth |
| objectification provides an inner sense of Self that | | | | century, wrote, "Read not books alone, but men, and |
| dispassionately and silently surveys one's thinking and | | | | amongst them chiefly thyself. If thou find anything |
| witnesses the resulting thoughts as something distinct | | | | questionable there, use the commentary of a severe |
| from the thinking Self. | | | | friend rather than the gloss of a sweet lipped flatterer; |
| This innate and instantaneous objectification process | | | | there is more profit in a distasteful truth than in deceitful |
| allows us to choose to do something - or nothing - with | | | | sweetness." We need others to help us become more |
| the thoughts that enter our minds from any source and | | | | fully aware of who we truly are and what we can do. |
| by any cause. This is the pinnacle of reflective thought. | | | | Summary |
| The brain produces thoughts as a result of physical | | | | Where do your thoughts come from? They come |
| stimuli but the mind determines how the brain should | | | | from places that are difficult to identify precisely. They |
| interpret and treat those thoughts. Should they be | | | | can be generated from outside stimuli or from inner |
| acted on? Should they continue to be thought? Should | | | | biological and physiological processes. They can also |
| they be regarded as unimportant and discarded? | | | | stem from the brain's own structure and the thinker's |
| The thinking Self observes the thinking process, | | | | own will. Wherever and whenever they arise, thoughts |
| assesses the significance and potential of the resulting | | | | are the raw material for choice on the part of the |
| thoughts and chooses what to do. Choice is the | | | | thinker. The choice determines the action and the |
| source of motivation to act on one's thoughts. Choice | | | | action determines the outcome. |
| is the act of taking responsibility for the material | | | | You are not bound by or to your thoughts or your |
| outcomes of the thoughts we think. Were we to be | | | | way of thinking. In fact, your choice is the critical |
| predestined to think the thoughts we have and act in | | | | element in how and what you will think in the future |
| the ways we do, we would have no motivation to see | | | | and what choices will be available to you. Choose as |
| opportunity and potential in our thinking or any incentive | | | | you will and it is inevitable that you will become the |
| for assuming responsibility for turning our thoughts into | | | | person you really want to be, living the life you really |
| reality. | | | | want to live. |