For every intelligent system, like us, like brain and soul, what really keeps us in motion are FEELINGS -- a kind of nonverbal direct sensory-like input to our mind. It is not words or mathematics, or even images or music, which keep us moving; these are very important TOOLS to help us understand and predict the feelings which come to us, but it is the feelings themselves which provide the primary motivation. Even at a relatively low level of self-awareness, we try to UNDERSTAND what these feelings are and where they are coming from, because whatever we SAY to ourselves in words, these feelings are what keep us moving. At higher levels of self-awareness, we pay more focused, intelligent attention to understanding these feelings.
One example: why get out of bed in the morning?
In recent years, my wife and I have been having great discussions with a highly successful, focused and intelligent neighbor who, amidst the great complexities of his life, would return to the simple acronym -- FFF, Faith, family, friends. I would reply LLL, life love and light, an acronym I learned many decades ago from Rosicrucians. I have the impression that Yeshua has been using "I AM" in a similar sort of way. All three of these have some resonance in the minds of many people, whether they use these expressions or not. I find it natural and helpful to me, even more as I age, to keep all three in mind.
What does science say? B.F. Skinner does not represent the highest level which psychology reached in the last sentence, but he is worth understanding and considering, especially as people have built higher on what he started. (Some on this list!) His concept of "primary reinforcement" is one way of expressing and thinking about the kinds of very fundamental feelings, which drive the learning and behavior which emerge from all parts of the brain which are capable of learning. I prefer John Von Neumann's concept of cardinal utility U, which is more precise and is the foundation of "cognitive optimization" ( https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/
A more modern understanding of how brains work, based on the best real-time data available from neuroscience, was reviewed at:
Regular cycles of forward and backward signal propagation in prefrontal cortex and in consciousness
Unlike narrower local models, these models provide an integrated understanding of brains as "intentional systems," connecting the important pieces.
And so, when Camus decided to rise above the belief that "it does not matter" by getting out of chair, and going to the bathroom, he stayed alive because he responded to ONE simple easy clear signal of primal feelings. We do better if we understand better the whole range and power of all the primal feelings coming to us.
This applies BOTH to brain and to soul. And so, on most early mornings, before I get out of bed, FEELINGS which I associate with LLL flow strongly and come naturally to me. It is natural to associate these feelings with my wife, first, even when we are on opposite sides of the bed, and with the birdsong and sunlight pouring through our window. But as it flows... I can easily feel "qi," a feeling and an understanding which will energize our entire lives, brain and body and soul, enough to be active for one more day (albeit at a lower level in most cases for me as the day wears on).
There are many weird theories out there about qi (or prana or vital life force or Freud's definition of "psychic energy or cathexis or whatever), but the FEELINGS are essential. As I see it, this flow is more clearly understood as an information flow in the intelligent system we are (or are part of), "designed" to convey "modulated backpropagation," information about value signals in our mind reflecting the U of our total larger mind or about the primary error signals calculated in the (nonverbal) part of our mind which tries to predict and represent the whole field of sensory inputs coming to us from all levels.
And so, with LLL, L for life and L for love are the primary fountains of U "energy" (feeling). L for "Light" stems from our cognitive prediction, mainly the thalamo-cortical loop in mammal brains.
But where then is FFF?
In discussions with our neighbor... I come to see LLL and FFF as two sides of the same coin. They remind me of relatively well-managed agencies, where the guy on top interfaces with the larger world,
with a crucial deputy who makes it all work INSIDE the agency. The CONNECTION between the two dies of the coin are crucial to it working well. The LLL variables certainly permeate the follow-on, the FFF, foundation of the life of any mind. My neighbor certainly has worked hard for life, love and light in his FFF activities!
BUT-- where is I AM?
Yeshua may have something to say about that.
In a way, it has a relation to cognitive prediction: how do we reconstruct an image and feeling of who WE are, as we try to to make sense of the entire gigantic flow of feelings and nonverbal input in general, from soul especially, at times of peak soul connection? Can we see really deeper into the whole? And then, as in the Zen exercise, as we feel and become aware of all in front of us, can we feel back without looking back, seeing in a way without looking, on who is doing the looking?
But the LLL level has enough challenges, and issues we are called to face up to and learn from in this "school of life." Lately I always remember Melissa Cody's image, "The World Traveler." Thinking about that image this morning, on a day when I plan to focus on THREE major objects of attention (this essay, new global existential threats emerging, and family logistics), I am reminded of the neuroscience of saccades. in Saccades, we can focus very intently on one object at a time...
WITHOUT losing the integrated big picture we maintain in neocortex.
Dear Paul, I actually feel like Diogenes in a barrel, much like an old dog. Qi level is down I guess. Tried to reach you. but all the lines of communication are out. Best Wishes Amalie
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