On Thu, Aug 9, 2018 at 10:29 AM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote:
> Very interesting point. The part that had the most resonance is "Your first > reaction is usually outdated". > > Thoughts? An important point to note, what is being appreciated here is not slow thinking, but high quality thinking. Nobody wants slow thinking if great results can be achieved faster. 1. Seek Pleasure, 2. Avoid Pain, 3. Conserve Energy - this is the motivational triad of the reptile brain, or the reduced instruction set (RISC) OS that your brain is usually running on. Running the full sized brain requires a lot of energy, so the instinctive thing to do, as evolution has prepared us, is to reach for readymade answers in the frozen food aisle, called memory. This is the “conserve energy” module in action. Since most people aren’t used to exerting conscious control over their brain or capable of overcoming their reptile brain, their present evolutionary state - they have to wait for the unconscious to take over - in the transition between dream and deep sleep state the body briefly enters a super conscious state. In this stage the reptile brain is asleep, and free of the fears and biases, free of the energy conservation rules the greater powers of entire human brain are available. This results in those middle of the night, or early morning Eureka moments. It’s kind of a hit and miss. Maybe you will think of something new, or maybe not. Most often you will skip this genius state. A less brilliant approach, but one that requires no training and isn’t so hit and miss, is to try to cogitate early in the morning - one will have greater energy to think since the body’s been rested- hence the phrase “sleep on it”. Now... Can high quality thinking also be instant? Absolutely, but it requires training. One can, through sheer exertion of will make the full powers of the brain kick in, in each moment. Running a 10k takes some cajoling of the will, some conditioning of the body, some training in techniques and plenty of reserve energy capacity. In very much the same way, thinking powerfully also requires some curation of the brain. Some meditation training to not let the brain wander on random thoughts all day long, and grow tired. Some training of the will to respond instantly. Some training to enter the super conscious state. This is the mind state of Yogis. They can drop for a brief instant into deep meditation and come out with brilliant solutions because this deepest state of mind is beyond time, beyond fatigue. There’s a vast intelligence that is accessible. Evolution is careful not to empower the stupid and the villains, so this state will arise easily only with some restraint of the senses, some restraint of desires, and all that is Yama, Niyama in Yoga.
