Beware. My Brain Is Flawed.
Sep. 1st, 2011 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trickykittyWith this, I was able to take in a pretty deep breath, and then let it out.
And my mind stopped thinking.
Damn it, Ed, maybe what we need is some world-wide regulation that makes every human being wear a badge every day that says, 'Beware. My Brain Is Flawed.' Look at what that would do.
We would know, for example, why our mothers or siblings are sometimes irrationally mean to us, or why our fathers are abusing us. We'd see their badges that say their brains are flawed, implying a temporary oversight plaguing the world. We would know why some people cheat on their taxes. Or why some politicians will do practically anything to save their jobs. We would know why the person we work for, or the guy working next to us, is some kind of jerk. We would understand why we might have to go through the pain of a divorce if we can't get along with our spouses. We could finally fathom why murders and rapes occur. Just look at their badges. We would know why we endure the stupidity of a sexual mating dance: even in a singles bar everyone would have to wear their badge. Given the international circumstances, it is quite natural for one country to want to war on others and massacre them. Then, of course, there is bigotry and greed. Every time we would be faced with a situation where there is no justice, no fairness, we would understand why. Everybody involved would be wearing the badges.
We would know why going on a diet is often so hard, and why some of us become addicted to drugs, alcohol, or gambling. We would understand why strong caste systems still exist in some societies. We would know what drives corporate raiders and people who are simply into buying and possessing. Even big shots would have to wear those badges. We might better understand why our sons and daughters aren't doing well in school and why we can't handle it. Many of us would be better able to accept the faults of others, no matter what those faults were. We would understand that we're not perfect, that our brains are flawed and tricking us and that we have to be careful. It would be like knowing we have a broken foot. If you know your brain is flawed, you'd be more careful about what you say, what you do, how you act. No matter what you said, you would know inwardly that you might be wrong.
One quick look at our badges every day and we would never be sure that what we say or do is right. You'd take your best shot at everything, but now you could always see the other side. In any event, we need most of all to convince people that they are walking around with a flawed instrument. The brain doesn't want them to know that, which is probably the greatest brain trick of all. And so to remind us everyday, we have that damned badge. If we don't wear a badge as a constant reminder, the brain will snap us immediately back into thinking that we are okay, totally rational without any caveman drives. We would have other forms of communication, complete with billboards all over the world to reinforce the whole idea. The copy could read: 'Don't forget. Your brain is flawed.'
And if somebody would point out like you did to me, that our brains have something like 1,000 trillion connections that all grow out of a fertilized egg you can't even see, then it shouldn't be any great surprise that there are a few flaws. Just look at all the defects we have in our automobiles and other products; we don't grow them from some tiny eggs. We stamp them out of metal and plastic and other things so we can double check and triple check them. Still we have flaws.
And my mind stopped thinking.
Damn it, Ed, maybe what we need is some world-wide regulation that makes every human being wear a badge every day that says, 'Beware. My Brain Is Flawed.' Look at what that would do.
We would know, for example, why our mothers or siblings are sometimes irrationally mean to us, or why our fathers are abusing us. We'd see their badges that say their brains are flawed, implying a temporary oversight plaguing the world. We would know why some people cheat on their taxes. Or why some politicians will do practically anything to save their jobs. We would know why the person we work for, or the guy working next to us, is some kind of jerk. We would understand why we might have to go through the pain of a divorce if we can't get along with our spouses. We could finally fathom why murders and rapes occur. Just look at their badges. We would know why we endure the stupidity of a sexual mating dance: even in a singles bar everyone would have to wear their badge. Given the international circumstances, it is quite natural for one country to want to war on others and massacre them. Then, of course, there is bigotry and greed. Every time we would be faced with a situation where there is no justice, no fairness, we would understand why. Everybody involved would be wearing the badges.
We would know why going on a diet is often so hard, and why some of us become addicted to drugs, alcohol, or gambling. We would understand why strong caste systems still exist in some societies. We would know what drives corporate raiders and people who are simply into buying and possessing. Even big shots would have to wear those badges. We might better understand why our sons and daughters aren't doing well in school and why we can't handle it. Many of us would be better able to accept the faults of others, no matter what those faults were. We would understand that we're not perfect, that our brains are flawed and tricking us and that we have to be careful. It would be like knowing we have a broken foot. If you know your brain is flawed, you'd be more careful about what you say, what you do, how you act. No matter what you said, you would know inwardly that you might be wrong.
One quick look at our badges every day and we would never be sure that what we say or do is right. You'd take your best shot at everything, but now you could always see the other side. In any event, we need most of all to convince people that they are walking around with a flawed instrument. The brain doesn't want them to know that, which is probably the greatest brain trick of all. And so to remind us everyday, we have that damned badge. If we don't wear a badge as a constant reminder, the brain will snap us immediately back into thinking that we are okay, totally rational without any caveman drives. We would have other forms of communication, complete with billboards all over the world to reinforce the whole idea. The copy could read: 'Don't forget. Your brain is flawed.'
And if somebody would point out like you did to me, that our brains have something like 1,000 trillion connections that all grow out of a fertilized egg you can't even see, then it shouldn't be any great surprise that there are a few flaws. Just look at all the defects we have in our automobiles and other products; we don't grow them from some tiny eggs. We stamp them out of metal and plastic and other things so we can double check and triple check them. Still we have flaws.
