UniVerses

We have learned a little about how the mind works. We can name the neurons and other cells and study the chemical signals that connect nerve cells.

We have learned that certain chemicals affect our feelings, from alcohol and cocaine we can alter the machinery of the mind by changing the way the signal molecules between cells work. That understanding is the basis for Prozac, which affects the turnover of a signal molecule called serotonin. 

One reason we overeat is because eating also changes serotonin behavior subtly, giving us a subliminal “high.”

The sensations emitted by our limbic system influence our behavior in both small ways and in very important ways. How we “feel” drives our behavior. We entertain ourselves by constructing situations that produce desirable sensations, such as competition, social behavior and procreation. Likewise we learn to avoid unpleasant sensations, such as fear, sadness or inadequacy.

But these insights into the way the brain works barely touch the surface of its complexity. Nothing we know begins to address how the transmission of impulses can turn into an idea.

Or how ideas connect us to this vast Cosmos.

We gain some insights into how the brain works from brain disease.

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