Each of Us is A Unique Tradition Continually in The Process of Creation
“If the mind is flat then our mental lives must exist purely at the ‘mental surface.’ Our brain is an improviser, and it bases it’s current improvisations on previous improvisations: It creates new momentary thoughts and experiences by drawing not on a hidden inner world of knowledge, beliefs and motives but on memory traces of previous momentary thoughts and experiences.
The analogy with fiction is helpful here too. Tolstoy invents Anna’s words and actions as he writes the novel. But he strives to make Anna’s words and actions as coherent as possible – she should ‘stay in character’ or her character should ‘develop’ as the novel unfolds. and when we interpret the behavior of other people, and of ourselves, the same aim applies: a good interpretation is one that does not just make sense of the present moment, but links it with our past actions, words, and indeed interpretations. Our brain is an engine that creates momentary conscious interpretations not by drawing on hidden inner depths, but by linking the present with the past, just as writing a novel involves linking its sentences together coherently, rather than creating an entire world.
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On closer analysis, the stories we tell about our stable personalities, beliefs and motives can’t possibly be right. By contrast, the quirks, variability and capriciousness of human nature make sense when we realize that our brain is an incomparable improviser: an engine for spontaneously finding meaning and choosing actions that make the best sense in the moment. Thus our thoughts and actions are based on a rich tradition of past thoughts and actions, which our brain harnesses and reworks to address the challenges of the moment. Moreover, just as today’s thoughts follow yesterday’s precedents, so they also set precedents for tomorrow – giving our actions, words and our life a coherent shape. So what makes each of us special is, to a large extent, the uniqueness of our individual history of prior thoughts and experiences. In other words, each of us is a unique tradition continually in the process of creation.”
The above passages come not from a Confucian or Buddhist scholar nor from a process theologian or philosopher, but from the prologue of behavioral scientist Nick Chater’s book, The Mind is Flat, in which he lays out his ideas about the “improvisational brain” and discusses his “flat mind theory.”
I’ve written about Chater a bit before after reading some articles he wrote, some videos he made, and an interview he did. I already have a few problems with the way he’s defining “consciousness” and take issue with how he seems to conflate “mind” with “brain”… but that said I’m really liking all the other stuff he’s saying so far (i.e. I dig the story he’s telling!); I am picking up on some heavy pragmatist influence on Chater (ala William James), and the bit about interpretation and the importance of coherence really sounds like stuff Whitehead would talk about, for instance like when Whiteheads talks about philosophy: “Philosophy is the endeavor to frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience–everything of which we are aware, which we enjoy, perceive, will or think–can be interpreted.”
I’m excited to continue reading the book as I anticipate that I will indeed find more resonances with a Whiteheadian and Confucian understanding of “the self” and panexperientialist understandings of consciousness to which I am partial. I’m sure I’ll be posting more reflections on it as I go.
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