{"id":2149,"date":"2018-10-03T14:00:47","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arise.pro\/?p=2149"},"modified":"2018-10-15T13:44:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T11:44:01","slug":"beyond-the-machine-there-is-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/blog\/leadership\/beyond-the-machine-there-is-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the machine, there is you"},"content":{"rendered":"

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t. <\/em><\/strong>Lyall Wattson.<\/p>\n

A few days ago I was talking with some friends about the conscience and the mysteries of the mind. We were wondering if \u201ceverything,\u201d absolutely everything, is a product of the brain. Emotions like joy, rage, disgust, sadness, surprise \u2013 in the brain. Love, hate, happiness, fear \u2013 in the brain. Creativity, consciousness, spirituality \u2013 in the brain. Between us all we considered a common argument by regarding the mind and the mental processes, like thought, perception, memory, attention, awareness, and even \u201cconsciousness,\u201d as nothing more than electrical and chemical activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond the brain\u2019s wiring there is nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

We thus settled the question of whether anything could exist beyond the machine, beyond the brain, assuming that if there were, it would also be a product of this same machine, and denying the existence of the psyche as different from the brain.<\/p>\n

This led us to conclude that the nature of the human being could be boiled down to a physical\/chemical\/biological mechanism and nothing else. We are what we are thanks to\/because of the brain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that case,\u201d I asked with interest, \u201cwhat are we to say about the soul?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother of the brain\u2019s inventions,\u201d they replied, convinced. \u201cWe are a machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so we find ourselves in a world divided between those who think we are but a machine, subject to the limitations imposed by being a cog in the machinery (I don\u2019t decide, they decide for me), and those, myself included, who uphold that there is something beyond the machine (I decide, nothing decides for me).<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that mean, then, that I don\u2019t think we\u2019re a machine?\u201d \u201cOf course we\u2019re a machine, but we\u2019re more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I agree that everything, absolutely everything, is in the brain?\u201d \u201cOf course everything is in the brain, and outside it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell then,\u201d they note, \u201ccan there be something beyond the machine?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond the machine, is you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silence\u2026<\/p>\n

Although, in reality, I\u2019m still seriously wondering how important it would be to know if we are a machine, or if we are something more than a machine.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t deny that everyone will, at some point, have to leave the world of relative truths and delve into the ultimate reality of things. In the meantime, while we wait for that moment when we encounter the absolute truth (for some the end of the machine, for others, the continuity of being), it is our duty to delve into and learn about our brain<\/strong>, an area in which\u00a0neuroleadership<\/strong>\u00a0becomes an essential tool.<\/p>\n

After all, how you use the machine will make the difference between living as a machine, as a slave to the machinery, and transcending the machine<\/strong>\u00a0and living in the\u00a0freedom of being<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn’t. Lyall Wattson. A … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,46,42,41],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2150,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions\/2150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arise.pro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}