The Brain, A Decoded Enigma Part 8

The personality is given by the whole structure of models of a given human being. We shall develop this very complex concept. To do this, at the beginning, we shall see a number of features in a rather random way and then, based on these descriptions, we shall list some important parameters which characterize the personality.

We know from the general theory that any brain makes models and simulates the possible evolution of these models. There are no restrictions in connection with the aims or goals of such simulations. Even for a simple model, the number of different simulations could be high. Of course, a model will not make all the possible simulations.

A characteristic of the personality is a.s.sociated with this diversity of aims and goals of any model.

A structure of models could evolve in a chaotic way, out of control. Another parameter of the personality is a.s.sociated with the capability to control such a diversity of evolution of a structure of models.

As we know from the general theory, the stability in a model is a brain quality parameter. Thus, the aims and goals of any model have to be controlled by a limited number of long-range models. Without such long-range models, the structure can evolve in a chaotic way (this is a form of schizophrenia).

Faced with a new external reality, the model which gives the best predictions of the evolution of that external reality will be activated. However, when the external reality is complex, the main model has to activate some other models, to be able to predict better and better the evolution of that external reality. A parameter of the personality is the capacity to keep control of the main activity even when the main model activates some others model. Thus, the stability in the main model is a parameter a.s.sociated with the personality.

Example: there are some persons who start from a subject and evolve in a rather chaotic way to other subjects so that the main subject is sometimes forgotten.

Another parameter of a personality is a.s.sociated with the fact that, although the structure of models has to be stable, the structure must be compatible with some models imposed from outside, by education. Without some main models imposed from outside (by education), a human being will be not compatible with the external reality.

By education, some models must be present in any brain (some of them must be in the PSM). Any human being is able to integrate into society, based on them.

There are now very big problems a.s.sociated with education, in the present human society. The main problem is the fact that the society (including in most advanced countries) is evolving very fast based on symbolic models and the education is not able to keep the pace with this fast evolution. E.g. the usual method of education is to impose some story-type model (i.e. some models of "how to do"-type). This method has increased too much the number of models that must be stored by the brain and the brain is not capable anymore to store and use all of them. Based on MDT, the normal solution should be to store some normal models that can be tailored by each person to any specific situation.

Another parameter is a.s.sociated with the tendency to think and act based on long-range models or short-range models. Some persons behave based on a number of long-range concept models (principles) which are used in any situation. Other persons have specific short-range models for any specific external reality. The personality parameter is typically situated between the two limits mentioned above.

From the general theory, we know that some models generate knowledge and others are used to modify the external reality. Thus, there are personalities oriented mostly to knowledge and others are oriented mostly to change the external reality.

There are persons who a.s.similate easily external models and others who prefer to make their own models.

Also, there are image models and symbolic models.

We can make a partial matrix a.s.sociated with a personality based on the capacity to make/a.s.similate image/symbolic models, for instance.

Another very important parameter is a.s.sociated with the content of the PSM. As we know, a number of external models must be included in the PSM, by the education process, so that the person is integrated in society. Unfortunately, a lot of models could enter in PSM, in an uncontrolled way. Some of these models could be bad models. They can be built, e.g. if a person is born and lives (at least in childhood) in a bad environment. For a person who has such bad models, there is still a chance to integrate in a normal society, by making some s.h.i.+elding models. However, a s.h.i.+elding model is, usually, not safe enough. Thus, in some situations, a person can act based on the bad models and not based on the s.h.i.+elding models which had helped him/her to be accepted by the society. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to know in advance the content of the PSM, because the PSM acts only in very special and critical situations. To be understood, this subject needs a lot of further work.

Here we present a general theory. It cannot go beyond some limits because the technological implementation is, usually, not taken into account. However, based on the theory, it is possible to develop the subject for specific applications.

Now we shall list some parameters a.s.sociated with the personality, based on the above discussion. Some of the parameters a.s.sociated with the personality could be:

The orientation to image models The orientation to symbolic models The orientation to knowledge The orientation to action on external reality The orientation to make new models The orientation to a.s.similate new models The orientation on short-range models The orientation on long-range models The parameter a.s.sociated with the diversity of action The parameter a.s.sociated with the stability in a model The parameter a.s.sociated with the conformity to society requirements The parameter a.s.sociated with non-standard models from PSM A table could be made, for any person, with numerical values a.s.sociated to the above parameters. To do this, a local model must be developed. That model has to contain a set of standard procedures to obtain such parameters.

This chapter, which is a.s.sociated with the personality, refers only to normal, mature persons (as these terms are already defined). The pathological cases are not taken into account here. In fact, to study the pathological cases is a nonsense before defining the normal situation.

This general theory, as it will be developed for specific situations, is useful to understand also pathological cases. For instance, MDT defines XZM- models (illegal models) as models which are not integrated in the normal structure of models. Such models could be very important to issues related to the personality, but there are still few data about XZM models.

There is another very important parameter a.s.sociated with the personality, which was not described above; it is a parameter a.s.sociated to the consciousness. Because it is so important, it will be described in a separated section.

THE CONSCIOUSNESS

It is considered that there are some long-range ZM models (image or symbolic), which contain the being as an element. When such a model is activated, it has to initialize. That is, it has to find the positions of all the elements (including the being itself) and to find all the relations between the elements by interaction with the external reality.

The consciousness is the capacity of a brain to make and operate a model, which contains the being as an element.

It is very important to emphasize that such models are normal models, which are made by that brain in interaction with the external reality. Such models cannot be a.s.similated by education, for instance.

The level of consciousness is a.s.sociated with the capacity of that brain to find and refresh, in a continuos way, the position of the being in a model.

Such models are long-range models. Their elements are already developed as models. Some models can also contain some elements a.s.sociated with the person. The number of planes of consciousness could be high.

Example: I am a Romanian citizen. I live in Europe, so I am also European. I have a job; I have a position there. I live in a block of flats; I have also a position in relation with the others who also live in my block of flats, and so on.

There are some models, which does not contain the person in an explicit way. This is level-1 of conciousness. Only some parts of that person are taken into account. The consciousness is of level 2 when the person appears in an explicit way in relation with other persons. On level 2, the person is integrated in a group; the person knows the aims and the rules of the group and acts accordingly.

Examples: when a person drinks water from a gla.s.s, the person does not appear in an explicit way; only some components of that person are taken into account. If the person knows what he is doing, and is able to predict his evolution, then he is on level 1 of consciousness. If a person plays a game in a team, and he knows the aims and the rules of the group and communicates with the members of the group, then that person is on level 2 of consciousness. On level 2, the person is integrated in the model, as an explicit element, as any other person of that group.

Problem: On level 2, a possible problem is to consider one's own activity as a good one, and to consider that some other members of the group are low quality persons. This could happen with a non-h.o.m.ogenous group, but also it is possible that the model is a low quality one (the person has made a low quality model a.s.sociated with the aims and the rules of the group). As we know, any model is made to be stable (logical or harmonic). We also know that the stability of a model is not a guarantee that the model reflects in a good way the external reality. Thus, for a good level 2 of consciousness, it is necessary that all the members of the group have about the same basic model.

Observation: it is possible that faced with a new external reality, for which there is no available model, the PSM activates itself. As the PSM is activated, all the normal models are disabled and so the consciousness disappears. Such a situation is called "shock status". The consciousness returns only after the normal structure of models regains control.

The highest level of consciousness is level 3. There are few persons who are able to reach level 3 of consciousness. It is not easy to understand the explanations a.s.sociated with this level.

On level 3, a person is able, e.g. to think with "the others' head". Also, on this level, a person is able to see how the others see him. This implies to make a model which contains the model of the group as an element in a longer- range model.

On level 3, the brain has to work very hard. There are few person who are able to do such an effort. It is harder to do such an effort on image models than on symbolic models. Usually, level 3 of consciousness is met on symbolic models. However, the word "empathy" can be a.s.sociated on image models, with a low level 3 of consciousness.

Note: Level 3 requests a hard effort for a brain and at the same time, the personal advantage from such effort is not too high. Thus, the absolute majority of the population is on level 1 and 2.

The persons able to stay on level 3 are the elite of a group.

Example: let's see an example involving car driving. On level 1, a driver is reacting only when a situation occurs, or is about to occur. On level 2, a driver is able to predict what the other drivers will do beforehand. On level 3, a driver is able to understand every driver around him, and he is also able to take in account some possible problems, which can occur in a.s.sociation with the overall traffic problems. Of course, the best drivers are those on level 3, but the effort to stay on level 3 is so big, that, at some moments, the brain will not be able to do such an effort, and the driver "drops" on level 1, when he can cause accidents. This could be the explanation of some "inexplicable" accidents, with persons who are considered as very good from a professional point of view. Of course, this is a very general problem; it is not related only with car drivers.

We already defined the elite of a group as those persons who are able to stay on level 3. Let's consider that a person has to work in a position where one has to take care of the community. Such persons must antic.i.p.ate what problems could occur in future, to be able to protect the community. Level 3 is absolutely necessary. But, there is a problem. When a person is to be selected for such a job, he has to gain some abilities. The problem here is that such abilities are, usually, obtained after some specific training.

The training courses have, as main goal, to ensure that the students have a.s.similated a number of models. When a problem a.s.sociated with such models occurs, they will activate the suitable model, and so they will solve the problem. But, to be able to do the job in a good way, the main quality is not to have the right model, when the problem occurs, but to antic.i.p.ate fast enough, what kind of problem will occur. That is, to be on level 3. I never heard that the selection of personnel is done based also on the level of consciousness criterion. Even worse, the persons who are able to a.s.similate easily new models, have a reduced capacity to make their own models (as level 3 requires) and so, the present system of education stimulates the students to have a low level of consciousness.

The present level of development of the human brain is too low to have, on a large scale, a level 3 of symbolic consciousness.

The consciousness based on symbolic models is requested in any situation when an elite group is necessary. In such a situation, every individual of the group is a.s.sociated with a symbolic element. Such a symbolic element contains nothing which could be a.s.sociated with the "human" part of an individual (no emotions, no feelings, no love and so on).

Let's see now the consciousness in the animal world. Some superior animals, which live in packs, know their position in the pack. So, there is a form of level 2 image consciouness for such animals. Of course, such a level is a.s.sociated with a single model, which is made by every individual of the pack. Even more, the position of every individual could be changed in time.

But what about ants. There is very little probability that an ant is able to make models in interaction with the external reality. The ants are based on the models of their PSM, (which are ready made when they are born). For instance, level-2 of consciousness could be recognized when there is a compet.i.tion between the members of the group, as it happens in a pack of mammals, or when an individual has to be trained. Such things cannot be met in the world of the ants. Thus, ants have no consciousness (except level 0) as a result of their incapacity to make models on their own.

Some superior animals, which live in a.s.sociation with human beings (e.g. dogs), are able to create on their own some models of interaction with the human beings. So, they could have level 2 consciousness.

ABSTRACT: MODEL DICTIONARY

M: these are models a.s.sociated in a direct way with sense organs (M-eyes, M- ears and so on).

YM: concept models directly or indirectly a.s.sociated with different ent.i.ties of the external reality.

ZM: General long-range models. For any external reality, the brain makes one or more ZM-models. They generate the truths, the reality, the knowledge and the consciousness.