PART 1: CHAPTER 3

NEURONS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

11

Paleocortex and The Evasion of Reality

The paleocortex denies reality if it contradicts its culture by inhibiting the critical thinking function of the neocortex.

The paleocortex is the instinctive brain. It differs from the neocortex, the rational brain. Its only function is to sustain life in the present and to detect friend or enemy. It is always alert to threats. In emergencies, it is effective and usually makes good decisions. It calculates only two percentages: 0% and 100%. It cannot measure risks and is useless for long-term planning.

The paleocortex defends anything that reinforces its cultural imprint as a friend and treats anything that questions it as an enemy. It does not reason or analyze evidence. Its role is to quickly identify friend or enemy.

The paleocortex can be pictured as a Tyrannosaurus Rex, always defending the cultural imprint programmed into humans. It is the brain’s bigot, driving emotions when people form crowds. The paleocortex cannot function like the neocortex; that exceeds its capacity.

The neocortex, if it can control the paleocortex, manages intellectual, mathematical, and logical processes — critical thinking. When the paleocortex activates, it usually shuts down or hijacks the neocortex, preventing objective thought and balanced emotions.

In our game, the higher dice represents the neocortex; the lower, the paleocortex.

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Sensory Perception

Sensory perception begins with the energy emitted by physical objects, before being perceived by the five senses, and ends in the brain, which interprets electrical impulses.

Sensory perception occurs so quickly that the process goes unnoticed. To understand it, you must follow it step by step, in slow motion. Names may differ, but not the phenomena.

Perception begins with the distal stimulus: energy emitted by an object. When a receptor receives it, it becomes the proximal stimulus, which initiates the rest. The distal stimulus comes from reality and exists first; perception of it comes second.

The light from a tree is the distal stimulus. It exists before it is perceived. The proximal stimulus happens after a sensory cell receives it.

The journey of sensory perception always begins with energy emitted by objects in the material world. A specialized sensory cell transforms it into a nerve impulse (proximal stimulus). The brain then interprets it. Again, names may vary, but not the phenomena.

If the paleocortex judges the information as friendly, it accepts it and perceives it. If it judges it as an enemy, it rejects it and blocks perception.

Sensory organs receive all distal stimuli, but the paleocortex filters nerve impulses according to the cultural imprint. In other words, humans perceive only the cultural information already imprinted in memory. Any other evidence is ignored. This explains the Asch experiment and the tale of the naked king.

Next, each stage of sensory perception will be examined step by step, in slow motion, with a magnifying glass. This is fundamental.

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First Stage: Emission of the Distal Stimulus

The distal stimulus is the first stage of sensory perception and refers to the energy emitted by material things in the world.

Things exist even if nobody perceives them. The sun, for example, existed long before any animal could see it.

Light, sound, taste, smell, and other energy emitted by material objects exist before being perceived. This is called the distal stimulus. It exists independently of sensory organs.

An eye can perceive the light an object emits. If the object emits no energy — if the distal stimulus does not exist — it does not exist in the first place. We know material entities exist because they emit distal stimuli. You cannot kick a penalty without a ball.

Sensory organs do not create distal stimuli. Material entities emit energy on their own. Sensory organs only receive it. This energy — light, colour, sound, smell, flavour, weight — is the distal stimulus.

Never forget the distal stimulus emanates from a material entity.

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Second Stage: Reception of the Distal Stimulus

The second stage of sensory perception is the reception of the distal stimulus, that is produced in the cells of each sensory organ.

The second stage of perception occurs when sensory cells receive energy emitted by a material object. Sensory organs have specialized cells for different stimuli: smell, light, sound, and more.

The design of sensory organs, with specific cell types, was shaped by natural selection over four billion years of evolution.

Olfactory receptors are nerve cells derived from the central nervous system. Humans have about 100 million, capable of distinguishing different odorous molecules.

Vision relies on rods and cones in the retina. These specialized cells detect light and differentiate colors. Humans have roughly 130 million rods and 7 million cones.

Hearing is a complex system of three parts. The external ear includes the pinna, ear canal, and eardrum. The middle ear contains three ossicles — the hammer, anvil, and stirrup — that transmit vibrations. The inner ear has about 30,000 hair cells that convert vibrations into electrical impulses. These impulses travel along the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex, where the brain processes the information.

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Third Stage: Transduction to Proximal Stimulus

Transduction is the third stage of sensory perception and occurs when the sensory cell converts the distal stimulus into a proximal stimulus (nerve impulse).

Transduction is when sensory cells transform the distal stimulus into electrical nerve impulses.

After a sensory cell receives the distal stimulus, it converts it into an electrical nerve impulse, sometimes called the proximal stimulus. This process, performed by sensory cells, is transduction and marks the third stage of sensory perception.

For example, when a sensory cell converts the light from a rose, it translates the information in the light into an electrical nerve impulse. This impulse travels to the visual cortex, where the brain interprets it.

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Fourth Stage: Interpretation of Electric Impulses by the Paleocortex

The fourth stage of sensory perception occurs when the paleocortex interprets the electric impulses.

The paleocortex is the first to interpret electrical nerve impulses, comparing them with its memory. If the information is unknown, it becomes a potential threat. The paleocortex reacts automatically: it evades and denies it.

Although this reaction preserves life in the moment, it prevents the neocortex from receiving the information to analyze it rationally, even if it is right before the eyes.

This explains human evasion: the compulsive, automatic denial of facts that threaten comfort or status quo. If the paleocortex judges life — physical or imagined — to be at risk, the neocortex remains inactive and cannot apply critical thinking.

A classic example is Galileo and the Inquisition, which sentenced him to life for accepting the facts revealed by his telescope.

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Fifth Stage: Data Nerve Impulse Interpretation of the Neocortex

The fifth stage of sensory perception occurs when the paleocortex lets the nerve impulse pass to the neocortex, which interprets it rationally.

When the paleocortex allows information to reach the neocortex, the neocortex compares it with data stored in rational memory. Cultural assumptions or beliefs strongly influence this process.

For example, perception unfolds in stages. First, the brain detects a stimulus in the sensory cells. Second, the paleocortex processes it, noting it is not dangerous and that it is square, hot, and soft. Third, the neocortex activates, and the person recognizes it: “It is a piece of toast with butter.”

Knowledge of the world begins with the world’s existence, then with sensory perception by a living being, filtered according to imprinted cultural premises.

If nerve impulses threaten a man’s cultural imprint — his comfort zone — the paleocortex rejects them. Even when evidence is before his eyes, he evades reality. Denying evidence leads to bad decisions and bad consequences. A man who ignores how his paleocortex works becomes his own enemy. The result is loss of judgment and, therefore, loss of justice.

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The Comfort Zone

The comfort zone is neural superhighways through which information circulates in the human brain, automatically.

The comfort zone is the easiest path for nerve impulses to circulate in the brain, with little or no critical thinking.

When a neuron’s axon connects to another’s dendrites, it does so — without touching — across a space called a synapse, where neurotransmitters are released.

Repeated over years with the same neurons, these connections form neural superhighways. They are the most comfortable paths for information. Imagine a map of the brain with streets and highways, most information flowing automatically through the superhighways — the comfort zone. In our board game, players start here.

Einstein described it: “Sad times are ours. It is easier to disintegrate an atom than a prejudice.”

Prejudices form large neural highways where impulses circulate comfortably. Learning new things becomes uncomfortable. That discomfort signals the creation of new neural pathways.

Once cultural irrationality is imprinted, habits reinforce it, and the paleocortex defends them. Change requires effort and resistance to discomfort. Creating new pathways is as painful as lifting weights for someone who has never entered a gym. To think like a Rolls-Royce, you must pay the price of a Rolls-Royce.

Strong motivation is necessary to endure mental discomfort. Like a weakling lifting weights, every high-performance athlete needs discipline to become a champion. With the mind, it is the same. Settling within cultural limits feels safe but blocks the best opportunities. The greatest harm is confusing self-esteem with social status, because social status cannot provide genuine self-esteem.

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Emotions: Effects of Thoughts

All emotion derives from reason with wrong or right premises.

Emotions are not causes; they cannot serve as premises or reveal reality. They are effects of rational evaluation, which depends on a person’s premises.

All emotion arises from several rational steps, but because they occur so fast, humans are unaware of them.

For example, when a team scores a goal, fans celebrate, but rivals complain. Both interpret the same event from different premises.

An emotion is felt in the body, but it is the final step in a strict sequence. First, something real or imaginary is perceived. Second, it is identified. Third, it is evaluated against some criterion. Fourth, the emotion is felt. The last step is least important. The decisive step is the automatic evaluation, which occurs at lightning speed and is ignored.

The cause of an emotion is not events themselves but the rational evaluation of those events. Because people fail to recognize this, they mistake feelings for causes. To control emotions, one must control the rational evaluation and the criteria guiding it.

A criterion is a learned conviction, often absorbed in childhood without critical analysis. As a child grows, these premises solidify and act automatically.

Consider learning to drive. At first, a student must think of every detail: the rules, mirrors, signals, brakes. Over time, these actions become automatic. The same applies to emotions: childhood criteria are absorbed unconsciously, and as adults, emotions act automatically, based on unchosen premises. This produces instability, anxiety, and anguish. If the mind is like a spaceship that one cannot pilot, one will likely say: Houston, we have a problem.

Cultural criteria shape emotions. Russians, for instance, rarely smile without reason, while Americans smile casually. Different criteria produce different emotional responses.

Cultural imprinting sets the criteria for emotions. Emotions are effects, not causes. They cannot reveal reality. If criteria are unchosen, emotions are not free.

Emotions are free only when one chooses their supporting criteria. Criteria based on evidence aligned with reality generate rational emotions proportional to facts. Irrational criteria that contradict reality produce cognitive dissonance and emotions divorced from facts.

An exceptional mind is like a skilled rider controlling a horse; a vulgar mind allows the horse to ride the rider. The neocortex must govern the paleocortex, not the other way around.