Charisma - Tripping through time.

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"Tripping Through Time"

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"Evolution is something that happens to living things. It is the alteration of life through time."
Philip Whitfield "The Natural History of Evolution"

"I am the creature with four brains. Two singles, and one double."

No, it is not something taken from the tavern scene in the "Star Wars" trilogy; this is real life. With the passage of time, Science Fiction has a habit of becoming science fact, but the above statement is already true, and was true for a long time before we developed any sciences.

It is only during the past fifteen years that we have begun to see the developing shape of the jigsaw puzzle of what it is to be a human being. Many scientists have contributed pieces that have been announced in every form from a single paper to best selling books. A comparatively few scientists are starting to put the pieces together; yet, many have still to consider the full picture of the relationships resulting from integrating the output of four brains and four minds. Researchers are probably hard put to raise hard cash for something that moves into the realms of the mystical.

We do have two single brains, plus a double one. The first brain that belonged to our progenitors was little more than a swelling at the top of the spinal column at a time when their shape was nothing like our present day framework. Not much more than a bank of switches, this one. Lots of automatic reactions, with no emotions or self-awareness.

Model 2 is only a short distance above, but its first appearance occurred millions of years later. Emotions this one has. Let's stand back a bit to view it; as you never know which way this one is going to jump. It is getting some degree of feedback from Models 3A & 3B, upstairs in neocortex country, but they are rather new at handling the controls and are pretty busy right now in coping with the primitive environment that surrounds us.

"Hey! You two, down there! Let's do something, because it is getting real busy up here." It does no good for Models 1 & 2 to ask Model 3A for instructions that are more specific; he never listens. One reason for this is that 3A just knows that he is always right. Besides, it would take him too long to explain in simplistic terms. Anyhow, whoever heard of explaining things to 'lesser' brains?

"Hey, 3B, let's wind them up a bit. Flash some sound effects down the line, and a quick picture of a dinosaur, up close." "Hey! You two, down there! Isn't that dinosaur close? ... real close, ... really, really close ... Hmmm! Must think what to do about that."

At about this time, Models 1 & 2 have been stimulated into doing what each does best. Model 2 panics, while Model 1 - who has always had control of the central motor co-ordination controls - starts opening the valves that release a broth of chemicals into the blood system. This is done in time with the monotonous chant of useful commands such as, "Attack", "Kill", "Run away"; accompanied by dim memories of the good old days when it was the one who looked out through the eye-holes to see what was going on. While this is happening, Model 3A, the Left-Brain, is trying to regain control of the body which is now being jerked around the scenery. Model 3B, the Right Brain, flooded by a rage of emotion from below, is staring out of the eyes; trying to make predictive patterns from similar, past experiences.

All of those millions of years gone by and we still haven't changed our habits. In partnership with the whales and dolphins, we have the largest brain-to-body ratio of all known living creatures. We are capable of great deeds of creativity, of compassion, and of logical analysis of known facts. We have the means, the capabilities, and the knowledge to model ourselves according to our highest potentials. Yet we surround ourselves with crud; with clapped out causes, plastic toys, and weaponry. All the worthless junk that a conscienceless, pillaging, high-tech society can churn out. With mindless savagery we cry, "Mine!", and, "More!".

In all of humankind's time on this planet, we have acted no differently. The first, modern, human beings that entered the American continent did so via Alaska. It took their descendants 1,900 years to migrate to Cape Horn at its southernmost tip. In that time, they wiped out virtually every mammal, including the continent's aboriginals. Early Polynesian explorers found New Zealand to be almost untouched by the small numbers of its indigenous people. By the time of the arrival of Europeans, most of the country's wildlife - together with its indigenous native folk, the Mori Hori - had been consumed by waves of migrants from Polynesia. The history of any land is the story of despoliation. It only awaited technology to bring this destruction to the point where every life form on the planet faces the high likelihood of extinction.

So few of us have learned to co-ordinate all of our systems for any sustained period. We are as children who only want to play with the newest, latest toy; most of us spending most of our time in the Left Brain, while others only visit from the Right Brain when the demands of the world make it essential. Outwardly involved, we perform everything from wondrous works to obscene wars. Inwardly there are the signs of neglect. A cluttered, seldom visited, subterranean labyrinth. From somewhere below rise the cold thoughts of the Reptilian Brain. Closer by are the learning and knowledge storage systems of the Limbic Brain, detectable by their proximity to the Wells of Emotion.

Let's look in on them. We see that the Amygdala-Thalamus emergency by-pass threshold-triggering point has been fixed at one level of sensitivity for years. That will need freeing up. Those banks of circuitry in the hypothalamus are still running programs that are years out of date. Just look at those communications channels! Only a fraction of them are functioning, and a lot of those need re-calibrating. This vast magnificence that has been aptly described as the Magic Loom, now looks more like Sleeping Beauty's castle. Conscious intercommunication has hardly progressed since the whole ensemble evolved. We constantly mistake intricate conditioned programs for original thought.

Nearly all communication is upward and outward. Inward flow has been reduced to a series of 'Go/No Go' commands. We don't even consult our bodies, apart from the taste buds, with what we feed into it. If only part of that outward flow of energy could be diverted inward to find out what the Magic Loom is capable of weaving. Imagine a full, yet orderly, flow of communication between these brains; between the separate types of intelligence incorporated in each brain's separate mind. An internal democracy of information; each brain united for the common good of the whole person. Relive, or imagine, the natural feeling of well being of those times when you are at one with yourself. Days on which peace is declared from the interminable civil wars. Those times do wonders for our relationships with ourselves, with others, with life.

We have the maps - always a promise of adventure - and we have the capabilities. It will now help if we take a tour of the inner workings of the mechanics involved in the mind-body relationship; get to know some of the details of what we are dealing with and how they interact with the outside world. We need to learn to recognise the sources of the forces within us, accept them, and divert that energy into constructive designs. I accept that some people may want to shy away from technical details, but the knowledge will be useful in getting a better grasp of how to go about making changes; and one of the best methods is to practice a change of view when you least feel like making the effort. I recognise that some people will be prepared to accept the ways and means as an article of faith because they strike a resonance within them. Faith can be good, but it doesn't hurt to inspect the evidence on which it is based.

"Snips and snails and puppy dog's tails, that's what little boys are made of."
"Sugar and spice and all things nice, that's what little girls are made of."

As children, that was the story we were told when we asked where we came from. Had we but known, the truth is far more fantastic than that. Come with me, and I will take you to the beginnings of a journey that began thousands of millions of years ago, and still continues to unfold. It is a tale of epic proportions and wonder; the story of life.

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