At times I feel like I am living between many worlds. Some constructed of the everyday world and some constructed of mind’s intuition, imagination and inquiry. The reality ‘out there’ appears to be so dependent on our perception that it changes depending on how we look at it. I find myself at times seeing the same world in a multitude of masks each revealing a different possible truth of what in fact it is. Perspective seems to be king and all understanding is a product of a specific perspective. Our meaning, purpose, morality, appreciation, sanity, disdain, fears, ambitions, passions, friendships, etc. are not constants that exist in their own right, but conditions or possibilities of our mind’s relationship to the world because they can and do change depending on that relationship. It’s a feedback system of controlled prediction where we see what we want to see because we want to see it. I’m not trying to suggest that some things are more or less real because they appear to be products of our mind’s powerful projection system, but rather that this system seems to be inescapable for the human being and the objective true answer to what is real and what is not is less important than the influence of what is subjectively real to the individual and the influence this subjective truth has on the individual. The mind lives in a world of derived meaning and these perspective paradigms are what build our understanding of reality and shape our behavior accordingly. These perspective paradigms form our sense of identity and ultimately answer or fail to answer the question of ‘Who am I?’ or ‘Why am I?’

The closest we’ve come to objective truth is through science, which tells us what things are composed of and how they function and physics, which tells us how things interact, move and relate physically. Both can tell us a sort of truth as long as they can understand the workings of the system that they are predicting. What they can’t tell us is the ultimate ‘why’ question that seems to be so fundamental and necessary to our understanding of ourselves and reality. Philosophy, religion and psychology try to bridge the gaps between the proposed empirical objective truth and the humans ability to understand empirical objective truth in a meaningful way, but all these systems have contradictions, paradoxes and their own gaps that need answers. It seems like truth is such a personal thing that it can’t be shared through a system of thought, measured by a prediction system or fully understood through a story that is passed down through generations, but must be lived directly and understood personally. I’m sure all of us are certain that our existence is true and that we do exist by our personal experience of existing. You don’t have to convince yourself that you are aware, you just are. That truth feels certain, but everything else that extends from that basic truth is less certain and more a matter of perspective.

Like an ever changing mirage, our many worlds are composed of varying real microcosms that exist within the larger context of varying real macrocosms that each have their own set of rules, measurements and truths. To help illustrate my point, think of the many answers that exist for what constitutes a human being? There are many answers to this question and all of them are true within their own perspective. To a biologist, human beings are living organisms. To a chemist, human beings are groupings of molecules formed from atoms. To a physicist, a human being is a composition of protons, neutrons and electrons that make up an atom. To a particle physicist, the answer needs to be even more fundamental and indivisible. To a psychologist or psychiatrist, a human being is focused around the workings of the mind and brain. To society, a human being is a friend, a foe or a stranger. To family, a human being is a husband, a wife, a son, daughter, a brother or sister. To capitalism, a human being is a consumer. To government, a human being is a number or vote. To the universe if that is possible, the human being is probably a combination of all the above, including gravity, electromagnetic force, oxygen, water, carbon, atoms etc. What is our true identity and where does one identity end and the other begin? The answer I’m afraid is a matter of perspective.

The evolution of the universe changed the rules surrounding what the ‘real’ world is by giving matter the opportunity to become aware of itself and in doing so allowed the very source and substance of consciousness to project its own interpretation and influence on what ‘real’ really means. The many worlds I live between are all real in their own way and at the same time not real at all. I am certain that my perception of these many worlds have a measurable physical effect, which affirms their subjective influence on me regardless of their empirical objective ultimate truth. The worlds I see influence my behavior, choices and decisions, which ripple out of my organism in a butterfly effect and touch the world that surrounds me. I am not certain that the worlds I see ultimately exist, but I am certain of my mind’s intuition, imagination and inquiry that bend my everyday understanding of the world in ways that allow these many worlds to exist for me, in my mind. The key I guess is finding a perspective that is flexible enough to understand that in the end everything is simply a matter of perspective anyway.

I found a newspaper article online called “Finding the Cure for Genius” and I was fascinated by the main premise of the article, which in the words of neuroscientist Colin Blakemore goes something like this, “As medicine hones in on the genetic causes — and potential cures — for mental illness, do we risk destroying the very force behind some of humanity’s greatest thinkers”. The question is serious and runs deep into the veins of our social institutions, educational systems, belief paradigms, historical perspectives and everything touched by the evolution of the human being. It asks the blatant question, “What is normal?” and do we really want to live in a world where everyone is “normal”. What is the measurement paradigm to decipher what we think is normal? Is it simply a measurement based on the majority or measurement based on the average human experience of life? Where do the exceptions fit in? Are the exceptions welcome or do we consider them a disease that need to be brought back to the norm through medication? Can these people be helped with lifestyle changes instead of medication that changes their brain chemistry? Is part of the problem for the mentally ill, the inability to feel welcome or to be part of a system that turns them into outcasts that need to be cured? Is there a way to change the rules for education, career development and social norms that focuses more attention on the individuals strengths and weakness and pays less attention to a ‘one size fits all’ paradigm? How many potential Einsteins, Newtons, Blakes or Beethovens have we prevented from becoming great because we feared the ‘craziness’ of their personality or thoughts?

I don’t necessarily have answers to any of the above questions, but I do know that the questions need to be answered. I also understand that there are circumstances that do require the use of medication to prevent horrible outcomes that threaten the safety of the individual and/or society. However, if we look at our current health paradigm and our approach to treating disorders, we can easily see how broken the current system is. We rarely treat disorders from the bottom up. Our approach is usually from the top down where medication is the first and more often than not, only solution. I guess it’s the easiest solution so it is continually used. Feeling bad or acting strange? Take a pill and you’ll feel better. We easily forget how complex and integrated the proper functioning of our organism is. Why don’t we first start off with the basic building blocks of our pyramid of health - diet, exercise, and sleep and progressively move up the pyramid as needed, leaving medication as a last resort? If medication is needed immediately, then set up a program where medication will be given in conjunction with the basic building blocks of our organism, with the hope of reducing or eliminating the need for medication. Build a new model for psychotherapy where diet, exercise and talk therapy are all part of the same program, helping individuals integrate all three into their lives. The greatest cure for disease is prevention.

As for our social institutions, educational systems, belief paradigms and historical perspectives, I think it’s time we begin asking what we want these systems to produce. Perhaps mental illness fits into these systems as a different way of thinking that is not currently supported socially or emotionally by what we’ve been taught and continue to propagate. Perhaps evolution has given us mental illness so that we can look at the same problems in completely new ways. Perhaps mental illness is natures way of warning us that we are headed in the wrong direction and need to change our path. Perhaps the change that is required is a matter of embracing and harnessing the extreme thoughts and emotions of mental illness and transforming them into something beautiful. Whatever it may be, we need to develop a better understanding of mental illness because our apparent progress appears to be producing more of it. Mental illness is being diagnosed at an alarming rate and more children now than ever are on psychotropic medications for mental illness.

We’ve touched every corner of our planet, traveled into space, seen far off galaxies and produced technological wonders beyond belief, perhaps it is now time to turn inward and focus more attention on the mysteries of the human organism and its relationship to everything else. Our planet is in peril by what we call the ‘normal’ way of thinking, huge populations of the world are starving to death while other populations are dying from eating too much, we’ve polluted the planet to the brink of irreversible damage, we’ve killed millions in the name of religion that’s main premise is peace and we’ve let profits dictate our moral compass and have knowingly done unforgivable acts to populations of the world without remorse. Perhaps the problem with mental illness is simply our perception of what we think is ‘normal’.

Finding the Cure for Genius
Link to News Article