To Live Doesn’t Mean You’re Alive
I have always had an unwavering and intense desire to share my ideas with the world but, for most of my life, I’ve kept them myself because while I thought my ideas were interesting, I didn’t really think they were worthy.
I am not a neuroscientist, an economist, or a psychologist. Given this fact, I often suppress my fascination with human behavior. I start to think, “Why did that happen?” or “What really made him do that?” but just as soon as I asked the question I would remind myself that I wasn’t qualified to answer it.
How can we expect to change the environmental world if we don’t understand the world inside our heads?
Over the past year, however, I began letting myself wander, and this self-permission has given me more freedom than I’ve ever known.
I am a naturally curious person, but the fear of straying from my area of expertise has confined me to a prison cell (otherwise known as a cubicle). I didn’t have much growing up so it was important for me to follow the money rather than follow my mind. As almost anyone will tell you- this is a mistake.
Don’t get me wrong, I like my finance job enough- but when I open the door at 5 PM and the fresh air hits my face, it is as if I’ve finally come up for air after being submerged under icy water. I find myself gasping for breath, choking on oxygen, thankfully still alive and somehow surviving, at the end of each day.
My worst fear is that there will be a day I won’t make it out. I’ll sink to the bottom and occasionally someone will say “oh, I remember that girl. I wonder what happened to her.”
So, I’ve been spending time self-reflecting over the past few months and I’ve decided to take metaphorical mental swimming lessons.
It is probably true that I am not qualified to break down big psychological, neurological, and biological ideas. Maybe I am doing these fields a disservice by trying to simplify their monumental research into understandable concepts and share that with the world. But it is vital for my survival that I try.
There are unbelievable, stunning, extraordinary things happening at every moment in each of our skulls. The human brain is the most powerful machine that has ever existed and will ever exist. We all have one and yet, very few of us know how it works. I’m not saying that we should all know how our brain neurons fire- I mean that most people don’t understand why we do the things that we do. We don’t know what motivates us, what we're afraid of, why we hope, how we love, or what we need. These are basic human elements that very few of us ever even think about. How can we expect to change the environmental world if we don’t understand the world inside our heads?
I believe that if people know more about their brain- how it’s distinctly unique and how it is exactly like others- we could drastically reduce the amount of hate and tragedy in this world. If we take the time to chat with the person in the mirror we are likely to learn about our own inherent biases, motivations, and desires. Getting to know yourself is the best way to protect yourself.
Evil people are able to achieve their goals right now because they know how our brains work. They can influence others to join them because they understand what motivates humans and how to manipulate that motivation. From terror propaganda to the political arena — these people and their teams know exactly how the brain works and they are able to gain control of our thoughts and beliefs because we don’t have the cognitive tools to fight back.
I am so compelled to share what I have learned about the brain and human behavior because I feel a responsibility to arm the citizens of our world with the knowledge they deserve to exercise their irrevokable right to free will.
It is entirely possible that no one will care and my words will go unread, unnoticed, and unremembered- but I know that I won’t survive if I don’t try. So, selfishly, I’ll persist because I choose to live rather than to simply be alive.
