Notes on Jan Cox Talk 3158

Note:   The audio of this talk is not likely to be made public -- so read with care

Jan Cox Talk 3158 June 9, 2004
Copyright Jan Cox, Jan’s Legacy 2016
Notes by Cfish June 2016

Suggested Title:  Momentary Reality

Begin:  Consider the variety of fictional names the conscious part of the brain (CPB) has named itself rather than saying it (CPB) is doing the talking? (ex. inner self, spirit, psyche, etc.) Seeing it will change everything.  

If you can look at the CPB in a certain way, being conscious is really a stretch. It is really a fairly low intensity illusion.  Picture the brain, the round ball of the brain and everything you need to keep alive is there except consciousness. 

Picture this thin layer of cortex wrapped around the top part of the brain. it’s like a screen where the words/pictures that constitute consciousness appear. This thin layer is the screen of the cerebral cortex and that is the only place these words an pictures that constitute consciousness appear.

05:00  Just keep glancing up. “My mind” is just pictures/words. It is only in one place and its just almost not there. It is like the flash water heaters in houses, the size of a liter bottle, that heats the water instantly as it uses it.

If you look at the CPB (conscious part of the brain) in your head it simply appears at the second it is triggered. And the hard part to describe is there is nothing there to support it. 

9:00 You are accustomed to feeling otherwise. We “feel” it is supported by knowledge, experience, and memories.  Daydreams where you think of yourself, feel substantial. But consider the split seconds between thoughts, there is no you, no consciousness. Something has to trigger it. The CPB is not the origin of anything under ordinary conditions.

It is an automatic reactionary operation. And it is a momentary flash/momentary reality (words/pictures) with nothing behind it and nothing below it.

The unanalyzed sensation “I am having/doing this thought,”  is not true.  If the brain is a box, the (CPB) is almost totally empty and the CPB cannot accept that at face value.

If the CPB did accept it that would produce what we call “waking up.”  Thoughts thinking a vague image is all there is. The closest exception maybe the electrical chemical impulses, throughout the brain, labeled memories.

15:00  And what the CPB labels memories are used for the upcoming thought. (ex. Do you know so and so? Does he have red hair? etc.) Conscious part of the brain (CPB) reacts to the question but you don’t do anything.

Its a momentary flash and nothing more. But its still a momentary flash/thoughts with no support system. Even if you have the memory, you can’t see or hear it, even if you open the box and look, all is quiet and empty. 

20:00  I am trying to get you to see there is no you. It is just a momentary flash/reality. “What you feel,”  “who are you,” “feels” substantial, verbally to someone or privately to yourself.  But it is just a momentary flash/reality.

Experience, knowledge, thinking constantly, for the last 45/55 years, but if you look, it is clear that its just a moment to moment flash. It was all triggered by external stimuli. 

25:00  “You” did not produce the thought. The CPB ignores the fact you don’t decide what you are going to say next. Asking “what are you going to say next?” disables consciousness for the moment. 

Do “you” have thoughts or produce thoughts?” CPB says yes. But no one plans what they are going to say next. No matter who is asking or listening (ex. genius v. idiot) you look up and the thoughts just appear. 

30:00  Maybe if you were “awake” for the moment you may not react but under ordinary conditions the conscious part of the brain automatically reacts. It is tricky to see. The CPB seems complex/deep. And it makes humans, human.

If you lose the CPB you can still live but you are not human. Don’t let the CPB fool you. It has a fair sized list of things it calls itself. Rather than saying what it actually is. (Automatic/reactionary/operation)

And our feeling about it is, this thing that is us, is very complex. But I suggest, it is a damn near empty box with a cobweb on top of it. To the ordinary mind its a vast storehouse of memories good/bad.

35:00 But the Conscious part of the brain (CPB) is nothing but a momentary reality with no back up system. It is not accumulated memories. Memories are electrical/chemical impulses stored in the brain. Nothing more.

The only thing the CPB/you is, rather than this physical body, is a momentary flash and it’s only there when some other stimuli outside of you triggers it.

That my friends is your consciousness. It is not bad news. It will make your heart sing. I warn you, if you pursue this, it takes away the non physical heartbreaks. 

(jokes) If you folks do decide collectively to send one of you to say you have had a very bad psychological experience after trying to see it. See if that stops me. I will keep trying and, hell, it may even encourage me.   

End 37:35