I'm not sure what you mean by "Complete Control Over Brain Functions." You mean like, being able to consciously control one's heart or visual processing? Or are you implying something more, that CCOBF would yield, say, "psychic" abilities?
And if the brain is what "controls" everything else in the body, what is the nature of that which might control the brain? Are you implying the existence of a "soul"/self, something which can exist independent of the brain?
In any event, that "we have the control" we have suggests that more control wasn't evolutionary necessary to survive and breed, and less control would've been insufficient.
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Last edited by Mindship on Jun 8th, 2010 at 12:17 PM
No psychic hocus and religious mumbo (soul and what not), i mean what it says on the tin really, complete control at will over any and all of the functions your brain is capable of handling. Practical means, like perfect memory, instant muscle memory, the ability to shut off pain, things like this. How far would this ability take humanity as a species, would it help or hinder us? With it would come the ability to set things like breathing to auto pilot as it is now. But the ability to get your own adreniline pumping, release your own endorphines (sp?) fast and at will. Switch off the emotions we dont want to be feeling at a particular time, the ability to never get nervous, never panic, stay awake unhindered for extended periods..
what would life be like if this was all within our power?
We'd be superheroes...or supervillians, depending on how we chose to use these abilities (of course, if we could all do it, you could nix the "super" part: it would simply be human affairs on a more intense level).
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you have control over your full emotional spectrum, which also means hormone and glands, you could adreniline yourself awake for a little longer, im not talking 3 days at full capacity here, i mean your body would still need recovery but the mind can be active all the time.
Like, the sense that you have any control over your body is a brain function. Are you talking about having like executive, top-down control over all systems?
the problem with this is that underlying the question is the idea that, somehow, our brain isn't working at an optimum level already, and that some sort of top-down organization might be able to change that and optimize it.
This is incorrect. The function of your brain, barring a complete reorganization/technology, is optimized for the tasks you are doing.
You think it is?
Id call a photographic memory optimal level. Wouldnt you?
Yeah, for the tasks humans do it is, but..wouldnt i be that little bit more efficient if i could turn my headache off with a thought? Thats what im talking about.
Example, Ive been sitting in this operating chair for 6 hours, by neck aches a little, its making me uncomfortable.
I know i'll get to go home in another 4 hours and am pretty sure no serious injury will come to me in that time. BAM, switched off the ache, yay for the complete control of my brain functions?
No amount of training will let you remember what it was like in your mothers womb. Having a perfect memory would, and thats what im talking about. Focus training will never give you a true photographic memory.
Although the ability is in your brain already to operate that way, the vast majority of humans brains just dont. What would the life be like of someone born with maximum control of everything the brain can manipulate? Is what i mean.
barring some type of soul, I don't see how you think that could be possible
photographic memory, as far as it exists scientifically, isn't a huge advantage, and any memory people have of young agess are almost certainly generated from what they believe experiences at that age were like.
All things considered, memory wise at least, the brain has a limited capacity, and memory systems are already prioritized to remember that which is ecologically relevant and significant. Having all possible and completely mundane things remembered (and therefore processed by your sensory systems) would cripple your brain from doing what is much more relevant for it to do.
Brain systems all exist at optimized levels to do what they need. Sure, if we could have a brain with unlimited storage, inerrorous sensory integration, etc, sure, but being able to just manipulate the brain the way it is wouldn't give you these abilities.
It is also worth mentioning that such "savants" who can instantly memorize things almost always have other cognitive difficulties. The human brain, naturally, runs as optimally as possible.
I take it that optimally meaning that it keeps you from dying one day to the next. You can be pretty stupid and still have an evolutionarily perfect brain.
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When did optimal become perfect? Ur probably one of those people who think we only use 10% of our brain. Optimal just means it does what its meant to do. On the subject of the forum...... We would need some type of alteration to both the size and anatomy of our brains for this to be possible. Having a photographic memory is usually accompanied by other mental issues. Such as an autistic savant.(or however its spelled). Not that every person with a photographic memory is autistic. Im just saying that without the aforementioned alterations it's a pipe dream. Tho it would be somewhat of a curse and an inconvenience to be able to shut things off. What if you accidentally shut off your blood flow for a second. I mean that would be alot of functions to have control over. It'd be like if u were sitting in front of a giant switchboard with on/off switches. Ur bound to make a mistake at some point. Like if you turned off pain for a while to work out, you could pull something or overexert urself. Causing an aneurysm or a clot.
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Jun 8th, 2010 11:09 AM
