The Brain

As usual, I've been doing random thinking, and the topic of much thought lately has been the brain. It really is an amazing creation! Take a moment to think about the tons of information that are stored in each human brain. If you're anything like I am, your brain does an almost-unbelievable amount of thinking each day - yet less than 2% of neural activity is conscious thought! If I try to measure the conscious thinking I do each day, multiply that by 49, and combine those two sums, the amount of work the brain does is just incredible! As if hard work isn't enough, it never gets any rest! While you're sleeping, your brain is still working hard processing all the information it has acquired over the course of the day, finding connections between the new information and "old" information, and filing away all the new data into suitable categories to be accessed at a later date.

Then take look at the memory. I am just amazed at the way the memory works. Rather than just filing away each separate piece of information into the related category/s like a man-made computer would, the brain searches all previously entered data for related information. It then establishes "connections" between all these pieces of information, forming a complete network so vast that it is incomprehensible. It is because of these "connections" that you find it easier to learn new things that are somehow related to something you know a lot about already. For me, I can read a paper on rabbit genetics and absorb every idea in the first reading, because I already know a lot in the area of rabbit genetics, and my brain can make more connections between the new and existing pieces of information. The more connections the brain has with a piece of information, the more likely you are to remember that bit of information. In the same way, I struggle to remember even very simple concepts of Geometry. Since I have only just started a Geometry course, everything is new to me, and it is taking a while to establish connections between all the pieces of new information and existing mathematical knowledge (of which there is very little, believe me! =P).

On the other hand, the human brain has a unique creative way of thinking. No animal's brain has the ability to process words and form an infinite number of sentences. Because of the superior brains God has given to man, however, even a toddler can create sentences which they have never heard before. Animals simply repeat things the way they were done by their ancestors, and follow the "instinct" that is programmed into them. A canary's song has always been the same, and always will be. Look at how much music has advanced over the ages, though! Not only do we have very complex music, but it is constantly changing, as humans seek to satisfy their urge to be creative and experiment with new things.

The more I learn about the human brain, the less I understand. How is it possible that a piece of flesh can store tons of data so effectively? It has an unlimited capacity for storing knowledge, but it is far from just an information bank. It gives us the ability to devise new ideas and be creative in our ways of doing things. Because of our creative mind, we are able to make and enjoy such artistic things as music that no animal will ever be able to come close to even comprehending.

Some people would have you believe that there is no difference between humans and animals - that we are nothing more than an advanced primate. After learning about the human brain, I ask you to reconsider!! This is but one example of how we are clearly separate beings created with a different purpose. Their purpose - to provide us with resources for survival and comfort. Our purpose? To bring glory to God and worship Him.

All very well to say, huh? Well now I'm going to do something that you may or may not like. I'm going to challenge you to find at least one thing in God's wonderful Creation that you find particularly amazing (come on, it's not that hard, what's not amazing in Creation?!) and tell people about it. Find out as much amazing facts as you can, and share these with people, bringing glory to God's mighty work. You never know, you might just change the course of someone's life.

And finally... if there's anyone that's actually read this post all the way to here, I'd love to hear what you think about all this. Do you have any interesting facts to share? Perhaps you even know some thing/s about the brain that would interest us, while we're on this topic? And yes, you can have a virtual medal for reading this far. I know it's been a difficult post to read, and you deserve it. *Places medal on your shirt.*

Oh, and if you could remember to keep Joseph in your prayers, that'd be great, too. He had his tonsils and adenoids removed in Canberra today, and from what we've been told, it sounds like it didn't go so well... he sounds quite stressed over it. Hopefully he will be feeling better tomorrow morning.

God bless you all, and thanks for bothering to read this!