4/7/22 Journal: Brainpower

Did you know that right now, as you read this, you’re simply floating in a vat of cerebrospinal fluid? Okay, maybe not your body, but that’s what your brain is doing, and that really is the “you” part of you. Think about it: your brain is inside your skull, where it is pitch black, and has no eyes in which to see, no nerve endings in which to feel, no auditory canal in which to hear, and no way in which to taste or smell. It’s in a permanent blackness; all it can do is receive and send electrical signals.

The signals it receives aren’t even necessarily complete; they need to be processed. Due to the curvature of your eyeball, the images it sends the brain are upside down and backwards. The ear sends all of the sounds it picks up, forcing the brain to decide what it is hearing (and ignoring).

The point is, your brain, floating in pitch black darkness, is creating its universe every instant. So your existence is a combination of what your senses take in, how it’s processed by your brain, and all of your thoughts and preconceived notions.

So, let’s say you’re a sophomore in high school, sitting in English Composition class, listening to the teacher drone on about To Kill a Mockingbird. All of a sudden, your eyes pick up movement next to you that your brain processes as your friend Eddie lifting his left ass cheek slightly above his seat. Immediately, your brain should go into RED ALERT.

Why? Your eyes saw Eddie eat two Mexican Pizzas at lunch. Your brain, from past experience, knows the olfactory devastation Eddie’s gastrointestinal system can cause. If it’s working correctly, your brain should immediately send electrical signals to your hands and arms to cover your face, because you will not want the electrical signals the nose would send.

Once your ears send the signal that your brain processes as a short trumpet blast, it would then send the signals to your hand to ball up into a fist and punch Eddie in the arm as a fair and just punishment for his malodorous malfeasance.

If your brain is anything like mine was as a sophomore, it would then send signals to the mouth and lungs to laugh so hard and for so long, you and Eddie both get sent to the Dean’s office.

I guess the whole point of today’s post is, like I said above, you basically decide your universe every instant. All you’re receiving and sending are electrical signals; you can manipulate them anyway you want. You decide if they make you happy or sad, stressed or relaxed, failing or successful.

Or even if a fart is disgusting or ridiculously hilarious.

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