(fun neuro-physiological trick at the end of this post) Sensory threshold only allows so much information to enter our brains. We only process a fraction of the stimulus we pick up from our surroundings. We only sense a small finite measure of reality. We cannot see infrared. We cannot hear a dog whistle. We would be crushed under the weight of the pressure at the core of Earth... and yet these things all exist. It is from those things we pick up through our sensory organs that we perceive the impression of a memory. Without the ability to remember, we would not be able to experience consciousness, because we would have nothing to gauge one moment's offering of sensory perception to the next moment. And yet, memory has proven time and time again to be fallible... why... We do not categorize those things which don't already fit into our schemas of reality. Sometimes the brain will even completely omit stimulus that has not been previously conceptualized in some manner We pay attention to those things which we identify with, and often leave the rest to the side (and if it doesn't fit into our reality, we use logic and relation to make it fit). If a piece of the puzzle is missing, we tend to fill in the blank based on our past experience and judgment of self. We base all inference on its relation to the self. In other words, we constantly rate the world on how it relates to who we are and where we are at that moment. The only thing that holds anything together, since all matter is made up of particles derived from the same source, is attraction of magnetic force. If we didn't have a particular magnetic polarity working to maintain our structure, our bodies as we know them would turn to mush and seep into the rest of existence. Reassimilation of particle structure into a massive plane of phsycial existence. I could go on all night... psych majors are the best mind fucks around. One last one... here's a fun experiment to do on yourself. Hold one nostril closed and inhale, then hold the other closed and inhale again. Whichever nostril is less clogged, the opposite side of your brain is currently dominant. (i.e. left nostril clearer, right brain is dominating) -Hemispheric dominance of the brain changes roughly every 90 minutes, following the pattern of a circadian rhythm. -When the brain is switching hemispheric dominance, a person will become internally cognisant for roughly 30 seconds to a minute. This is also known as "zoning out." What is happening when you "zone out" is the two hemispheres are in the process of communicating with each other by way of the corpus callosum, the part of the brain running down the middle that holds the two hemispheres together. Electrical charges that would normally be exhibited through the dominant hemisphere alone are at that time running back and forth on the corpus callosum in your brain. Think of it as one side of your brain filling the other in on what's going on and where to pick up where things were left off. -Sometimes we don't even realize we zone because our brain also has the capacity to kick in autoprocesses of nervous and motor behavior. This is to ensure we don't totally shut down every 90 minutes while the brain changes guards, so to speak. If you are in a relaxed environment where stimulation is low and high frequency reaction time isn't necessary (thus electrical activity in the brain is also at a low frequency), you are less likely to notice a zoning. Put yourself in a high stimulus situation and you are more likely to become aware of when you zone.
