Last time we mentioned that the main function of the brain is prediction. In order to make predictions in a low-carbon and energy-saving way, the brain will prefer various shortcuts, such as the various astrological signs, faces, palmistry, etc. that we all know, and also include Psychology of all kinds with the "scientific" label. These myriad ways of making predictions still exist today, not because they are all accurate, but because they help the brain reduce the energy required to make predictions. We usually think that what we see is the real world, but modern neuroscience has long proven that what you see is not always true. Please look carefully at the picture at the end of the article. Is the white ball protruding? Now let's reveal the answer, the white spheres are not convex, they are just flat spheres that are just illuminated by the light source above, our brain will subconsciously see the bright and dark spheres as is protruding. Our vision is not actually reconstructed in real time by acquiring data from the external environment, but a model obtained by comparing the predictions of the brain with the data of the external environment. This function of revising and adjusting external environmental data is called unconscious reasoning, that is, the brain will infer a "reality" based on internal predictions and external data, and we are all unaware of it. To demonstrate the brain's ability to reason unconsciously, let's look at another experiment. If you show a person a block on a computer screen for half a second, and then show a second, larger block for the same half-second, he or she will think the second block lasts longer. The same is true if a brighter square is displayed for the same amount of time. These are considered to last longer than the original block. All of our basic consciousness, time, space, causality, etc., are constructed by the brain based on external environmental data. If you still don't believe it, do another experiment. If you snap your fingers now, you will see the action of snapping your fingers and hear the sound of snapping your fingers at the same time. The processing speed of visual information and sound information in the brain is not the same, but your brain will show it to you. A scene after time calibration. That is, we have little idea what is really going on "out there". The brain makes assumptions about saving time and resources, trying to see only the world it needs to see. The brain only accepts a limited amount of information from the external environment, and then makes various predictions based on internal models. To be precise, the brain is a fairly closed system that operates within activities generated within itself. There is a recurring episode in Westworld where Dolores the robot is asked where are you? Dolores the robot will answer, I am A dream, a very real dream. To be honest, each of us is living a dream to a large extent. We always think there is a big difference between waking and dreaming, where waking feels real, while dreaming is always full of inexplicable fantastical scenes. However, according to neuroscience research, in fact, the difference between dream and reality is not as big as imagined. The difference between dream and reality is only the amount of data obtained from the external environment. The brain operates in its own way, so life is like a dream This sentence is not necessarily a metaphor. When we are awake, our brain can continuously obtain various data from the outside, which can be used to calibrate and fine-tune the internal model of the brain, while in the sleep state, our brain receives very limited information about the external environment (unless you are frozen in the middle of the night) ), so your brain can imagine all kinds of fantastic scenarios. Many people are very sure about their own understanding of the "real" world. I am the opposite. I have always been skeptical about my own view of the "real" world because of my meditation experience and Hume's skeptical philosophy. Modern neuroscience just proves Hume's philosophical point of view. Each of us has limited cognition of the real world. Our brain's operating mechanism determines that it is impossible for us to obtain all the information in the real world. What our brain obtains is only the surrounding matter. A small sample of the world, and sometimes our understanding of "reality" is even the result of brain manipulation. In 1909, German biologist Jakob von Uxkull Uexküll) began to notice that different animals in the same ecosystem get different information from the environment. Later, Uxkul introduced new ideas: the part of the world we can see is called the "umwelt", or living space; and the larger real world (if it exists) is called the "umwelt". The present world" (umgebung), or the external environment. As the biologist Jacob tells us, what we usually think of as "reality" is nothing more than a part of the external environment data that our brain allows us to know plus the brain's predictions. We live in the same "real" world as bees and bats. We cannot see ultraviolet light like bees, nor can we read echolocation sound waves like bats. Many of us think they live in the "real" world every day. This understanding is not entirely accurate. We just live in an environment that the human brain can understand, and we have no way of knowing what the real world looks like. So from this point of view, I think Hume's agnosticism is correct, Hume's agnosticism is not the agnosticism of our living environment, but the agnosticism of the "real" world. Our brains can not only process a limited amount and type of environmental information, but also make a lot of predictions and inferences that we are not aware of in order to reduce energy consumption when processing information. A manipulated "back door". It is well known that the brain has two "back doors". In psychological terms, one is called the "simple exposure effect" and the other is called the "illusion of reality effect". The simple exposure effect means that when we unconsciously receive some information, this information will affect our decision-making at the conscious level. The modern advertising industry has long known how to operate this "backdoor" of the brain, and use this "backdoor" to achieve its own goals. It can be said that the entire advertising industry is built on the basis of this "backdoor" of the brain. You can think about your usual experience. If you often see advertisements for a certain product, even if you have never read the advertisements seriously, these advertisements will stay in your implicit memory system. When you need to buy such products Would you buy a product that you have seen advertised or would you buy a product you have never heard of? If there is no accident, you will most likely buy a product that you have seen advertised on. Of course, your "rational self" will make up another One reason, maybe it's cost-effective or more suitable for your personality. No matter what excuses your "rational self" makes up, it's the ads you don't realize that ultimately determine your buying behavior, or no one would advertise. The illusion of reality effect is Refers to the fact that if you have heard a statement before, you are more likely to believe it to be true—whether it is true or not. People of insight in the human race have recognized this "back door" for thousands of years. Although no one has coined this term before, the application of this "back door" by human society has reached the point of perfection. Whether it is Chinese Confucianism or the world's major religions, you will be required to read and recite the classics repeatedly, and the younger you start reading and reciting, the better, and that's why. The slogans and creeds that are often repeated in political activities are also to achieve the same purpose (the specifics cannot be too detailed, just comprehend them yourself). Chanting "Amitabha" all day may not bring you into the realm of bliss, but it will help you to believe in its existence more. All political and economic systems of human society also depend on this "back door". Who would accept a piece of paper as currency if it wasn't for the fact that people once believed that banks would exchange the same amount of gold for the number on the paper? According to this, if there are countless people in history who shed their blood for "freedom, democracy, equality, fraternity" and "XXism", how could there be today's world political structure? In fact, the entire human civilization is built on the manipulability of the human brain. The manipulability of the brain allows us to lend a helping hand to people thousands of kilometers away, and to kill people who have lived in the same city for decades. We become benevolent saints, and we can also turn us into murderous villains. All the glory and suffering of human beings actually originate from the same "back door" that is easily manipulated in our brains. There is a passage in the Zen classic "Diamond Sutra": "All conditioned dharmas are like dream bubbles, such as dew and electricity, and should be viewed in this way." It’s just an illusion effect), the focus of this passage is on “thinking as it should be”, that is to say, we need to figure out which of our thoughts are “like a dream bubble, like dew and electricity”, and which of our thoughts are deliberately manipulated by others result. To do this, we need to persevere in introspection and introspection all the year round. Only by constantly analyzing and questioning our own thoughts can we truly achieve "the way we should behave". In fact, according to Buddhist philosophy, if you want to achieve true "liberation" or "Nirvana", you must first learn to analyze and question yourself, otherwise you will circle around Gang Rinpoche eight times and knock your head 10,000 times in vain. . As a non-Buddhist, what I have gained from the intuitive experience of meditation and Hume's skepticism is how to question one's own point of view, and the Confucian classic "The Analects of Confucius" also teaches us No intention, no need, no solid, no me, the ancient Greek oracle also taught us to "know yourself". It can be seen that various civilizations in the world have some common views on wisdom, that is, wisdom should be based on introspection. It's a pity that we often equate our own thoughts with our own deity, so we are reluctant to put a knife to our own thoughts, and this habit of questioning ourselves takes a long time to exercise your brain (I spent at least 20 years ). But if you really want to gain a more perspective on the "real" world, I suggest you start by spending more time understanding yourself.
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