Are We Who We Think We Are?

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My world, for anyone that is interested, is not formed by a ‘normal’ run of the mill way of thinking. Firstly, I believe in absolutely no one unless they are AWARE of cognitive biases. If those two words, people have no idea of, if they have never stumbled across them in any type of even basic detail and OBSERVED their own personal biases as part of a process toward progress then I have no interest in learning from them about life, or being inspired by them directly. Indirectly, we can learn from anyone and anything of course. That may seem cold and harsh, it is not though, I definitely do not mean it to be. Learning and being inspired by someone, is one thing, human nature I do not shun or judge negatively just because people do not know what cognitive biases are or how the brain truly works to prime a mind toward belief systems where individuals and the culture continually loop around, feeding each others mindset to assume they cleverly molded with careful thought and research the memes which become part of their identity. The truth is though for example, every Christian I know within my own community here in Cyprus came to be in an idiotic manner….. [Alarm bells ringing, not a nice word!]

By idiotic, I mean that most believers are swept away by their immediate culture and circumstances without ever thinking about how their faith truly formed as part of their identity. I’m not saying idiotic in an angry, demeaning or resentful manner, however, it just is idiotic. People are believing in a religion without any intelligent thought process what so ever here in Cyprus and I’m sure in most other regions and nations across the globe. What’s even more idiotic is that if a discussion arises on the topic, believers of any specific faith will bring up as much nonsense as possible, riddled with contradiction and the inability to make true comparisons with other more reasonable and/or evidence based observations, unaware that they are swept away with the cognitive biases I mentioned , desperately justifying their idiocy with more idiocy.

Cyprus is rampant with this idiocy. Strong word idiot isn’t it? Again, important I repeat and be clear, I’m not being aggressive with it. To clarify further, I enjoy and like most human beings who are in this ‘idiot’ category. It’s my pleasure to care for and share with them, to enjoy many aspects of their personality, to form long lasting emotional bonds with people, I have no interest in using peoples lack of awareness to create a higher status for myself and to belittle them. I’m using the word idiot within context to explain an approach to how memes are followed through in life. The power of the word idiot important to use and highlight what I want to say.

I too have biases, so am I an idiot too in that respect? The difference being, is that rather than defend my biases stupidly, blindly using the bias itself to continue the flow of idiocy, I can observe the formation and sticking power of such biases due to understanding the complexity of a brain that loves to create and hold on to patterns formed. Acknowledging that the brain just wants to survive, and that means it is initially designed structurally and chemically, naturally, to pick up and soak up from it’s environment anything APPROPRIATE from childhood onward that will help create comfort and safety, forming therefore emotional bonds with memes and then cultivating justifications for them, amplifying their importance during the ongoing formation of personal identity…… me being aware of the brain like this and it creating meme trap foundations we tend to fall into with our eventual, paradoxical free will choices that therefore in many respects are not free will…. my awareness of this and how my childhood biases became stronger and stronger over time, I now have no need to defend these memes proudly despite many of them still fixed within my mind as patterns are hard to shift. AWARENESS of my initial idiocy, helps me develop new reasonable thought processes to help me shift away from them intelligently. Being aware of cognitive biases, also helps me be continually careful not to be swept away by future biases as the brain is still trying to prime me that way in the background.

By having this awareness, I can now open a door to thinking more critically about my fixed patterns and slowly chip away with new ideas to remold or replace my past beliefs whatever they may be, taking away the emotional glue to these memes step by step. It’s not an easy process for some memes, a brain/mind independent to my identity mind will not let go of patterns set so easily, especially when emotional significance has been formed over many years. Understanding this, I smile at the battle going on between two minds in my own head and without pressure continue to chip away towards, reasonable, rational new thought patterns with the aware mind that I do have control over. Some of the older ‘idiocy’ memes will be kept for life… That’s OK, I’m aware of them and can keep them in check to a certain extent, and of course that awareness allows me to at least not defend them with foolish pride. This is why it’s so important to be aware of cognitive biases, to have an understanding of how the brain goes about its business of survival. Why are memes so hard to shift? Neurons forming connections deep within the brain code information accordingly. Try to unlearn how to drive a car, your brain will not allow you, no matter how hard you try. Try and disconnect with the sports team you have adored for years, your brain will simply not allow you, even if you were offered lots of money to do so.

Children will not have this awareness about biases. Cypriot children I’m using as a direct example because I can physically observe to quantify, will be so sure that they are Christian at the age of eleven when asked by someone, the child clarifying their belief without any doubt. There is no way at eleven years can a child enter a two hour intelligent conversation about cognitive bias formation and brain chemistry and then decide after not to be religious anymore just because someone presented articulately how the brain sets up traps of following things appropriately without much intelligent thought to it. Too many emotional, neuronal connections would have been set within the vast complexity of brain/mind connection, so of course the child will automatically continue the meme beyond any attempt to interfere with it externally for two hours. THE BRAIN LOVES HOLDING ON TO PATTERNS SET, ESPECIALLY WHEN EMOTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE IS ADDED TO THEM FOR MANY YEARS.

Not one of my relatives who Christened their children I have ever heard challenge their own belief system which has multiple religious faiths with high number of followers contradicting there own absolute truth confirmation. Not one of them ever have I heard question anything in detail, to ask “Why did I make this decision of faith in the face of so many opposing views?” They just flow downstream with the current of their cultural norms, no questions asked. There’s a lot about this idiocy that is fine though, lets not get carried away with the downside to idiocy. People within a culture get along, life can be fun and normal, causing no harm with their memes. Dunking a baby in water and having it blessed by a priest, followed by a small party after, generally a good day at a Christening and time for family and friends to get together, catch up and have some fun. However, still idiotic. No thinking as to why, what the ritual actually means, no question about if a god actually exists, heaven, hell, placebo, conformity, science, contradictions, nothing ever challenged beyond the odd quick chat here and there. Beliefs and their rituals very much remain in tact and taught down the line generation after generation.

I will only ever take anyone seriously, if they have some understanding about how the brain is intricately set up to prime us into making appropriate decisions and works on our mind independently to heavily guide free will choices. Hence, this is how majority religions are formed in many nations and how various other memes flow too. People are not to be judged for their lack of understanding. The irony being, the more I understand myself and others, the more compassion I’m generating, the less status I desire, the more I want to inspire people to learn about how the mind truly works beyond our assumed control. It’s so important, because the ignorant, idiot, free flowing unaware mind is in an era where it’s losing the zest for giving with love and affection, individuals very much battling their own mind with status anxiety instead and all the complications that brings with it. A wonderful remedy is to become aware of the idiocy cognitive biases produce, then accept, and then begin a process of restructuring meme patterns without the feeling of pressure to do so. It is such a rewarding and liberating process. It’s honest and the only real source of progress. It begins a shift from self importance, creating a more team bonding mindset.

I hope this blog helped offer some insight to what we are really like as individuals… To develop this, there’s plenty of videos about brain anatomy and their functions and other researchers explaining in detail various brain/mind processes… A fun journey of self discovery awaits you. 🙂

By Panayiotis Stavrou

[Video source: Shots of Awe You Tube channel]

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