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Soda

But reality isn't what we see, it is what we think. Interpretations of the brain, even vision falls into that category.


Where did you learn that information on cannabis affecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain? To my knowlege the biggest difference in use comes from gender, with males using a half more than the other, and female using both. I think cannabis works on the brain in a less significant way, "tricking" the brain to respond.


Here's where that is from.

__________________
Alas! the forbidden fruits were eaten,
And thereby the warm life of reason congealed.
A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam,
Like as the Dragon's tail dulls the brightness of the moon.

— Rumi: Masnavi I Ma'navi

 

insomniac2

Exactly Soda. That's what i'm trying to say. So marijuana changes the way the brain interprets input. The point is that it is already an interpretation governed by a subconscious system that we really don't understand very well. The split brain model described by Betty Edwards is basically the model that works for me. Coupled with the functions of the r-complex, reptilian brain, it best describes how the system seems to work.


Since i was a kid i could lose myself in almost any kind of project. It was kind of a trance state, where time didn't register and i was oblivious to what was going on around me. I wasn't *thinking* with the brain i used the rest of the time. When i first read about split brain theory, years ago, it struck a chord with me, because that's exactly what it felt like, like a different mode of thinking that didn't use words. Like i had shifted emphasis from one to the other. Over the years i experimented with some of the exercises designed to strengthen the right side. I found i gained some measure of control over the modes. For awhile, when i couldn't get someone to shoot pool with, i shot pool, left hand against right. One time i wore an eye patch over one eye or the other and kept track of how my mode changed. I found that the process helped integrate the two (or three or more) sides of my nature. =-)

My brother and i talked alot about those modes and how much fun it was to do things like race cars. That was our thing at that age and both of us agreed that the mode we got into on the track was that same kind of trance mode. He smoked pot before i did and told me, "Jim, it's just like driving!" That model seems to match what i've experienced, so that's what i use.

It also seems to me that individuals vary a great deal in how they use their various modes of thought. I found that it didn't really take much practice to improve my ability to shift back and forth or use both hemispheres at once. Betty Edwards uses the example of drawing a circle on the blackboard while talking. She found it difficult to do. If she thought about what she was saying, the circle got lopsided. If she thought about the circle, she stopped talking. I tried it and she was right, but no sooner did i understand the problem, my hemispheres got the conflict straightened out and i could draw circles and talk with ease.

So, how we use our brains determines how it's gonna work... you know, to some degree. How we are brought up. What kind of projects we get lost in. They all mold how your system is gonna work. Seems to me pot helps some parts of the brain work better, however those functions are described.

Soda

I can't say I agree with your ideas of shifting sides of the brain. It isn't like one side is a personality to itself with its own pros and cons and the other side is more creative or something, I wouldn't suggest trying to familiarize yourself with your brain from other people. You are your brain. Your mental voice reading this in your thoughts right now. I think that we, ironically, are above our own comprehension.

insomniac2

Ok by me. Like i said, that's the model i use because it is helpful to me and my quest to understand my own nervous system and how it works.

Well, that's exactly how it works for me. Like when i'm at the plate and the pitcher is winding up. In order to hit that ball, i've got to be concentrating on the spatial relationships and timing. The part of my brain that carries on a conversation will only be in the way. That's why the other team is talking it up, yelling "Hey batter, hey batter". They are trying to break my concentration by getting me to pay attention to my left brain instead of the right. Same thing as talking on the backswing in golf or yelling at the guy trying to shoot a freethrow. If the player can't stay in the proper *mode* of thinking, he's gonna mess up. The details of how that works in the brain are really not important to me. The model is like a schematic, it doesn't have to be accurate in detail as long as it offers some insight into the function that helps me improve my game.

I'll use any means that works for me, but you're right that other people's brains aren't much help in learning how to use your own. It takes practice and a good model helps. =-)

Maybe, but no use in setting limits on yourself. The more we know about our equipment, the better.

Soda

Nice replies there.
I think that your model is effective for "the quest to gain more manipulation over reality", which is what I think of it as, which entails controlling things that make you happy and negative things to overcome. But I think you'll be enlightened if you stop the left and right thing and think of them as simply different programs of thinking. This way, you are not silencing things your thoughts are telling you, they don't come up at all. Focusing thoughts to one stream is hard, sometimes pot does it in a second, sometimes pot does the exact opposite.

 

insomniac2

Thanks, but i'm not giving up my model... it works fine for me. In fact i take the analogy a lot further. In my model the brain and it's parts are like a board of directors or government cabinet...

As if left and right hemispheres weren't enough for us to handle, there is a third part of the brain which seems to have as much to say in our behavior as either of the "thinking" two. This is known as the R-complex or "reptile" brain. This is the powerhouse of survival energy that can be unleashed in an emergency. This is the "Hulk" that resides in all of us. Known in the Orient as the Kundalini, this drive is what the athlete must learn to release at just the right moment in order to excel. This is the "past president" of the organism and has the final word in all life and death matters. There isn't any "thinking" going on here, just gut reaction. This is also the seat of habit. Such behavior patterns as mating, social hierarchies, obedience to precedent and ritual, are rooted here along with opiate receptor sites and other areas sensitive to chemicals like hormones and such. This section of the brain is tuned for action rather than contemplation.

This part of the brain is located at the base of the skull and is attached to the spinal cord. It is called the reptile brain because it resembles that primitive brain in function and displays the same selfish bias that we expect from "cold blooded" creatures.

Two Fools, a Mute and a Brute

Sandwiched between the "thinking" partners, left and right, and the "brute" in the bottom chamber, we have the mammal addition to the board of directors. Family and social organization are programed into this area. The brain is constructed in layers. From the end of the spinal cord the successively more "modern" pieces of the brain have been added on to the existing equipment. Consequently, the decisions made by the lofty sections of the brain must pass through the "chain of command" before they can reach implementation, and the reptile has the last word. Many times the R-complex pays more attention to messages from the glands than it does to the orders from the "higher" brain. This system can leave us in a bind if we don't understand how it works. The R-complex is very good at getting us by in tough situations like badass neighborhoods and war zones. The aggressive behavior demanded by these conditions imprints in the reptile brain and is labeled: SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIOR. In times of stress the individual may resort to this "proven" pattern of action without giving it a thought. The "thinking" part of the brain gets the job of trying to rationalize the behavior of the "snake". Some use their available brain for little else but making excuses. Our courts and jails are overflowing with people who suffer from this problem. Our prisons do nothing, but encourage the use of the R-complex to deal with everyday life.

So, our human brains are made up of four basic seats of authority, of which the ego is only one. As long as that ego operates under the delusion that it is running the whole show, there's going to be trouble. The ego can either lose itself in rationalization or it can so subdue the rest of the board, that it becomes a virtual dictator of an unstable state, subject to periodic revolution. We are truly multidimensional beings even if we could be considered a closed system, which, of course, we are not.

This inner board room is constantly being bombarded by a steady stream of information from the environment in the form of allomones, pheromones, viruses, enzymes and other compounds, not to mention the steady flow of sight and sound stimuli. It is no wonder that some people "lose it" to an overwhelming feeling of chaos and confusion.

The human psyche is a highly complex interaction of fundamental units that each has its own way of processing information and its own limits of authority to act. I do not mean to over simplify this system or to "explain" all of it in my own crude terms, but I am trying to show the relationship of the various parts of our nervous system in a way that relates to the subject at hand.

The difficulty in spotting the flaw in our thinking is that we can only look at the problem with that same flawed thinking. The evidence cannot be found at the thinking end of the situation, but at the action end--the results. Just look at the world we live in.

The domination of the "male" side of the brain is apparent in every part of our daily life from the preferred use of the right hand to the exercise of "dominion" over the Earth. It shows itself in the short range, digital, masculine way of thinking that dominates our decision making process. The tendency of civilized humans to dominate, conquer, exploit and destroy shows us the location of the flaw in conceptual model. This is the "warrior ethic" that has been our way of doing things for some time. The cultures that we now call "primitive" put considerably more effort into seeking balance with their environment through the "female" aspects of Nature.

Our culture generally worships one god who is male, supremely powerful and thought to be off in the distance somewhere, whereas the primitives pay homage to the god of the Earth who is female, supremely understanding and contained in all things. It all boils down to which side of the brain handles our religion. In our culture the seat of authority in our bio-control system is a military junta, with the Ego and the Reptilian portions of the brain calling the shots. Understanding this can be a big help in moderating one's behavior, providing one is interested in doing so. =-)

Bud_man_8

Yes I do believe this to be true for I was high last night a thought of self tinted headlights you got light in the dark and dark in the light then relized once I came down that it would work cuz the lights would cause them to tint themselves. I thought it was hilarous. But in my line of work I don't smoke on the job. I'm a demolistionist so if I was high on the job and got careless people could get hurt.