The Brain, A Decoded Enigma Part 15

Schizophrenia can appear in an unlimited number of types, depending on the perturbations, which are a.s.sociated with the fundamental process of the brain operation. The affected functions are: - The construction of new models and the continuous improvement in accordance with the changing external reality. - The integration of a new model in the structure of models of the brain. The long-range models must contain enough short-range models to handle the external reality, which is complex and changing.

Based on the above considerations, the normal definition of schizophrenia will be given:

Schizophrenia is a technological problem of the brain. The brain cannot build complex models that fit the external reality, and integrate them in a harmonic/logic way in its general structure of models. The function of building and operating short-range models is maintained.

Many times, schizophrenics on the first level (XS1) can be brilliant in the construction of short-range models.

In short, for humans, schizophrenia is short-range thinking.

We will continue to describe the schizophrenia of type XS1 A and B. This nonpathological form of schizophrenia can bring some big advantages to that person. Long-range models use a great amount of energy in order to be suitable to the changing external reality, and are also developed to find the best solution to problems. In a stable society, many such models are of little use, because the society imposes certain models, that need only be a.s.similated. This way, a person who has XS1 A or B will use the energy only to make better and better short-range models.

Thus, a stable and efficient society favorises the XS1 schizophrenia.

Let's see an important factor a.s.sociated to the education system. The whole educational system is based on a.s.similation of external models and verfications of the a.s.similation of these models. The construction of new models is totally unfavored. Thus, the general education system favorizes the development of induced schizophrenia (XS1B). The effect is devastating for the society, if we take into account the consciousness issue. The theory defines consciousness as the capacity to build long-range models containing the person as an element. Thus, the educational system favorizes implicitly those who have a low-level consciousness.

The second main psychiatric illness is paranoia XP. Paranoia is defined as the inclusion of an ordinary model (OM) into PSM (OMPSM).

The basic characteristic of a model in PSM is its invariance. These models are practically impossible to be changed, whatever the information coming from external reality would be. When there is an OMPSM, all the models contained in the brain have to be in harmony with this invariant model as well.

When a new model is built, some information coming from external reality could be in contradiction with OMPSM. In this case, the only way to integrate the new information with the condition imposed by OMPSM is to distort the ZM which will intergrate that information. This is possible only on image models. On image models, there is no criteria to attribute to primary facts the correct importance. Thus the whole structure of models will be distorted in order to be harmonic with OMPSM (e.g. some facts will be minimalized and other exaggerated as importance).

This is why paranoia is to be understood as an illness, which affects personality. The personality in its whole is of paranoid type. The structure of models is or can be built partially harmonically; the a.s.sociated symbolic models are built to be in accordance with the image models, and sometimes, the paranoid can have a brilliant harmonical and logical structure.

The detection of paranoia is very difficult, as the patients can have no logical contradiction in their thinking structure, and they can have a good coupling to the changing external reality.

Many paranoids are brilliant in thinking, with an infallible logic. The example of Hitler is eloquent. His OMPSM was 'the Arian race is a superior one'. What followed was based on logic. Communist personalities can be mentioned here as well. They had an OMPSM of the type 'the working cla.s.s is the driving force of progress'.

When an OMPSM exists, then we have a case of paranoia. There is no treatment for it. Even if OMPSM could be destroyed, the whole structure of models in harmony with the OMPSM should be rebuilt, and this is impossible.

We will talk now of light forms of paranoia, undeclared as illness. As we know, when a model becomes invariant, all a.s.sociated models will be distorted to be in harmony with it.

Let's suppose that a brain has a normally built model in accordance with external reality. This model could at some point become totally inadequate in the understanding of external reality due to a change in the latter. The normal solution is the reconstruction of the whole structure of models, but this activity would be beyond the technical capacity of reconstruction of the brain. Due to this, one of the possibilities is to leave the model untouched. In this case, we have a light form of paranoia, which manifests itself as confusion or avoiding discussions connected to the model with problems. Another possibility is to build a s.h.i.+elding model. s.h.i.+elding models do not modify the inadequate model, but can deactivate it.

As this is not pathological, i.e. no OMPSM exists, the illness could be cured, especially at young individuals. This type of problem (important normal models which do not fit the external reality anymore) can occur at any time in lighter or more serious forms. Prevention of this light form of paranoia can be done with an adequate education.

ETA 14: Suicide

From the general theory we know that a basic requirement of design of the brain is unconditional indefinite survival. However some individuals commit suicide.

From the general theory we also know that models are so strong that they can predict that sooner or later we will die. As this prediction will activate PSM and PSM has no solution, this could destabilize the structure of models. The general theory also shows that the solution is to build a s.h.i.+elding model, e.g. religion. This model sends to PSM a less catastrophic message, which stabilizes the situation. Some religions are so strong that they can determine in their followers no fear of death. These believers can commit suicide very easily, if they have a 'serious' reason, without the possibility of intervention of PSM to block it. Fortunately, the Christian religion is not strong enough to eliminate the fear of death.

This risk of suicide was noticed very early, and this is why religions usually condemn suicide.

Whatever the s.h.i.+elding model would be (religion or another s.h.i.+elding model), PSM will be blocked in case of the activation of a suicide model. The presence of an adequate s.h.i.+elding model can therefore block the PSM, which wants to stop the activation of the suicide model.

A cla.s.s of suicidal individuals consists of those people that after the disappearance of an ent.i.ty included in their PSM (a very close person vanishes from their life), they are unable to correct the whole structure of models. The brain gets unstable, all-important models might become unusable and this can lead to suicide.

Another cla.s.s of suicidal individuals is that of those who have all their models blocked (a.s.sociated with general depression). The person can see that he/she can't evolve anymore, the predictions are permanently the same, and i.e. there is no hope to get out of a certain situation. This can lead to suicide, but the brain needs to build on the spot a s.h.i.+elding model, in order to have a 'successful' suicide. If not, PSM will intervene at the last moment to avoid it.

A cla.s.sical example is when somebody who has a lot of money looses it all at once (the great depression in 1929 in USA, for instance). With all models blocked, the individual has no capacity to build new models adequate to the new external reality and suicide becomes an option.

There is a special cla.s.s of suicidal individuals, under 18. This can be a.s.sociated to the fact that teenagers have a limited amount of long range models with lots of imperfections. These models are insufficiently developed to show the whole host of directions of evolution open. These models can easily predict a situation of generalised blocking, and from here, the tendency for suicide. It is clear that only a simultaneous generalised blocking could be a cause for suicide. We repeat that without an adequate s.h.i.+elding model, PSM will determine the insuccess of the suicidal attempt in the last moment.

Obviously, there are persons who have psychiatric illnesses, as defined by this theory. In their case, additional factors will add up, a.s.sociated to their illness.

ETA 15: Normality tests

Having defined schizophrenia and paranoia, we will describe two tests to detect these illnesses. T1 and T2 detect schizophrenia, and T2 alone detects paranoia.

T1. In front of a complex external reality, an individual has to be able to realize if he/she has enough information to build a suitable model. From the general theory, we know that the brain will build harmonic/ logic models based on the available information. This is the problem: we don't know beforehand how many elements are there in the external reality. The models are built with what is available. We could not realize that we have not enough information to build a good model (see general theory: Defieciencies in the design of the brain). The test wants to verify is we can compensate this design deficiency.

Example: The primary information is: 'a car crashed into a wall'. The person has to build several models. These models could be, in this example: - accident - test - movie - computer game - cartoon

This is just an example. In an actual situation, the person should not only build several models, but also develop them progressively, in parallel, along with new data adding to the initial information.

After a certain acc.u.mulation of information, the person might stabilize to a single model, but if he/she has not enough information, and does not realize it, this can be a sign that there could be a problem. The test is usually pa.s.sed well, if the person maintains his/her flexibility, even after there is apparently enough information to get stable in a model. The existence of flexibility is understood as a guarantee that the person has the capability to build long-range models. And also that he/she has no OMPSM, i.e. is not paranoid.

There is a game based on this idea: one builds a model, and the other has to guess what the model is. To do this, he/she has to ask questions to be answered only by yes and no.

T2. Test for detection of paranoia.

An individual accepts a change in a stable model, if the external reality imposes it. In a practical situation, the person interacts with external reality and builds a model, which gives good predictions on the external reality. At some point, an element of the external reality is changed. If the person detects the change and corrects the model, as well as the other interconnected models, this is a good indication of normality. For a person suspected of paranoia, the model used would be the one supposed to be the OMPSM.

Paranoid subjects can distort the external reality unlimitedly to make it compatible with their OMPSM. As a consequence, the test tries to see if the person suspected of paranoia will modify the supposed OMPSM.

To be applicable, the test as described above, needs to take into account a design deficiency of the brain, as given in the general theory. Any image model has a basic problem: on an image model one can't see the importance of an element or a relations.h.i.+p. The image model remains harmonic for an infinity of values of importance, given to the elements or relations. Due to this issue, the paranoid subjects do not realize the presence of their illness.

Except these cla.s.sical psychiatric illnesses, there are illnesses produced by dynamical and transitory instabilities of the brain. The illnesses given by dynamical or transitory problems refer to the loss of models stability in special conditions or at certain moments of time.

The XZM (illegal models) could also explain a series of problems. The general theory addresses this issue.

We'll make another note here. The theory is applied here in particular to normal individuals. The pathological cases are not generally considered at this level. It is actually absurd to study pathological cases in the absence of a good model a.s.sociated to normal persons.

ETA 16: Dreams

The dreams are a.s.sociated to image model development. Such models are built, based on the available data in the brain and not by direct interaction with the external reality. We call the source of data for the dreams as Quasi- External-Reality. QER could take information from any available model of the brain to build and develop the dream-model. QER is invariant during a dream.

A dream is a model, which is developed, based on an invariant QER.

We shall describe several cla.s.ses of dreams.

1. QER is mainly based on the external reality, but contains also some artificial elements or relations. A dream based on artificial components, tries, by development, to modify the external reality to meet the dream.

Example: we dream a situation. Such a situation doesn't meet the external reality, because some artificial elements or relations are added. The dream can activate some models to change the external reality, to meet the specifications of the dream.

2. Technological dreams (wake-up dreams) The brain generates such dreams. They solve by software, some of the design deficiencies of the brain. The most important technological dreams are wake-up dreams.

There are normal wake-up dreams, emergency wake-up dreams and nightmare dreams. They are generated to wake-up a brain, because, due to a lack of a suitable hardware, the brain must generate the wake-up function based on software.