Carrying The Right 1,5 Kg

Yes, from a biological point of view this is how much the average weight of an adult human brain is. And yet, glancing at the world, it seems that depending on everyone's utilisation of this 1,5 Kg body-load the output, the capacity and the perception of reality formed by it can be as different as the entire spectrum that is painting the various forms and shapes of life and existence itself. And it does seem that there is some sort of interactive relationship between the human brain and its immediate surrounding, which triggers different impulses and hence leads to different outputs. And even through this simplification in my analysis there seems to be a common denominator among all brains on this planet in the definition and perception of basic terms that govern our lives, such as the definition of good and bad, of ethical and unethical of success and failure. From Darwin's evolutionary theories all the way to contemporary sciences such as NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) the human brain has demonstrated its versatility and its ability to adapt to all circumstances like a sophisticated device whose core-programming is survival with a touch of impression.

But in today's post I do not pursue the objective of going into deeper scientific conclusions about the operation of the human brain, but rather the philosophical avenue that leads to the contemporary definition of success. I will start with a simple concern, which is beyond my grasp and yet reflects the cornerstone rule of nature itself, which is the inequality among the same species. There is no doubt, just like there are stronger and weaker humans from a physical perspective, there are stronger and weaker brains. And while Darwin's theory on the evolution of mankind does offer some explanation as to why this is happening from a physical perspective, it does beg the question whether the same thing also applies to the properties of the human brain. For example, Darwin's theory supported the idea that all parts of the human body that are still used in its daily existence develop and enhance, while other parts that are no longer in use decline and disappear over time. This approach does make some sense and is easy to accept due to its high compatibility with common sense. But what about the brain? Can we apply Darwin's theory to the human brain by analogy? And if we can, how does that then explain the distorted definition of success and the even more distorted rewarding system that is applied by mankind these days? When Rihanna's latest video clip earns her millions, while a new scientific invention that saves thousands of lives goes unnoticed? When all Rihanna's brain needs to do is to memorise the few simple lines of a song, and possibly coordinate the lyrics to the dancing moves, while the brain of a neurosurgeon for example, needs to upload tons of information during a surgery within a very limited amount of time? I got my inspiration to write this post reading an article on a German magazine, about the crazy amounts of money that a German Talk Show presenter was making, despite the fact that half of the Shows were cancelled. So this guy's fame made it look almost normal to the average German viewer (i.e. brain that is) to regard it as almost self-understood to pay this TV persona 2,3 Million EUR for shows that will never take place. A preemptive rewarding, so to speak, for things yet to happen, if at all. I know, too many caveats in one sentence. And these are the same brains that resist passionately to process logical ideas, such as human respect, such as the equality of sexes or freedom of expression.

But I guess, the deduction that the human body resembles the properties of a car engine, and therefore, food just like fuel are decisive for the performance, goes for the human brain, as well. If you feed it garbage, it will probably underperform. I believe that the complexities of the human brain though are much bigger, if you factor-in the element of memory. I sometimes get the feeling that our brains resemble computer hard-drives that store an immeasurable amount of data, which are acquired even when we are at a state of sleep. I find the explanations of psychology on the subject very credible, when it argues that the human brain never sleeps and has the capacity to travel through time and space. This state of sub-consciousness is the explanation of science to explain dreaming, but also the circumstance that we occasionally experience when in a state of wakefulness we encounter "dejavus".

But in order to wrap it up, what I am still missing is the element or maybe chemical substance that differentiates the value of this 1,5 Kg vital organ from human to human, and justifies certain brains to be prized at multi-millions or billions of EUR of USD beyond any doubt and challenge, while the majority is priced at the cost of an average worker's salary. There must be some of the gauges and gears that cause that special movement that is worth compensating dearly due to the uniqueness of their rotation and their unique output. But what are the forces behind such uniqueness? Or is it merely, a function of luck, chance or even randomness that is leading to a capital-gain by malfunction?

No matter what the answer to the above question, this will remain one of life's key mysteries to me and it will probably consume my limited brain capacity and will cause it to overheat in search of a sensible answer. Subconsciously, it has become my life's work to crack that riddle in my spare time. But what I know for sure is that it will be a journey that will provide only intangible gains and no profit to me or my readers. The results will be subjective and slow anyway. I guess one of the safety features that comes with the riddle is installed in the very mystery and is taking care of that! I wish you all a nice weekend!