Human beings are wiring
"Why the Way We 'Decide' to Intake Information Determines How We Act and the Importance of Choosing Wisely."
No more than that, a collection of specifically connected wires to produce alternative outcomes based on its own individual wirings.
I am talking obviously about the mind, the determinant of all human action in the physical world where we live. I am not talking about the physical or spiritual aspect of humans. The reason why I am not talking about the physical and spiritual aspects is because in the material world humans, the majority of humans, follow what their mind ultimately decides to do.
So because it is with the mind that the ultimate instant of every human action is decided, and this is the right word “decide” for human movement is driven by a collection of small and big decisions, then I go back to the premise that humans are a collection of wires organized in a certain way.
Human thought is like road vehicles transiting through a mesh of vial systems, these vehicles cannot transit where there are no roads, like through swamplands, or through fenced farms, or hills, valleys, and creeks, so they transit through the mesh of vial systems. For humans this means, human thought transits through the paths of the mesh each individual has chosen to follow. The brain has multiple synapses and connections between them, but the path for reason is individual based on the wiring that individual has “chosen” to validate.
As an example, Western Civilization is built upon the premise of “rational thinking” which presumes a correct path of thinking, hence of wiring; we are however aware, that this rational thinking is not the same for every human. That is why we have such a level of extreme and opposed views about so many things.
Individual human thought is affected by the “decide” factor, and the wiring is influenced by this specific element, that is, humans can and do influence their own wiring and this leaves us with an essential question:
If humans self influence their own wiring, what is good wiring? And how do we “influence” good wiring without removing the most desired trait of human existence “free will” so we “all” achieve the ultimate goal of every human “a good life with freedom”.
Let me re-examine my own phrase because it is important and the reason for this article “influence”, “so we all”, “a good life with freedom”. In other words we should all be able to live a good life among each other and the best, if not the only, thing we can do to make this possible in freedom is to “influence” our fellow humans in hopes they would voluntarily respect this right of every human.
This article has the purpose of making you aware that “you are a wiring” and that you should strive to improve it so you can understand and respect others, and influence back, in the correct direction; the choice of how is yours.
The song “Man in the Mirror” says: If we want to change the world we should start with “the man in the mirror”. So if we want to improve something we need to be aware of our wiring and make sure it is good, which I suggest means, all paths should lead to support the goal we should all have “a good life with freedom for all.” This of course implies one thing: “tolerance and respect for others.” The rights of one end on the beginning of the right of the other and vice versa.
So if we have the need to improve our wiring, our way of seeing reality and thinking, what influences our wiring?
Our set of values
Our bodies
Our feelings
Where do our set of values come from, what is the most important source of our set of values?
For religious people, it is the set of values established and taught by their religions. For intellectuals, it is their self-education. Both are good and bad. Religious thought is made of human interpretation of deity, and at best, could be misinterpreted, at worst manipulated. Intellectuality at best will always be incomplete, at worst will seek a path (wiring) that is convenient to support the conscious or subconscious mindset of the thinker.
Our bodies and feelings can affect our wiring or our “moments” of thought. An emotional event can influence the wiring of our lives depending on how we were affected, and an illness or exhaustion can influence the way we perceive, feel and act at a given moment.
So if our set of values, our bodies, and our feelings affect our wiring that produces our thinking, what should we do? My proposal is that first we be aware that we are influenced by our own wiring and that this wiring might not be a perfect path to the right thinking, second, we need to find a way to come together so we “all can live in peace and achieve the goal mentioned before”. The only option for this is that we “all” agree on something:
That we all “have a social contract” that reinforces the goal that “every human being should be supported and protected to live a good life with freedom in respect to the same right for every other human being”.
If we have this agreement, the next step is on how to make it happen, and that is the journey of human civilization. How far ahead or behind we are, is again, our choice.
Note: the concept of the Social Contract is not new, in fact, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the most important thinkers of the 18th Century wrote an extensive perspective about this.