First Questions...

How is that the human mind is so intriguing to itself? The brain appears to be intrinsically interested in itself and how it works. I have been fascinated with the brain since I was in sixth grade. For our science project, I wrote and essay and presented a poster on the human brain, "the 3 pound lump of mush in our heads that controls all that we do" (Kurczek, 1998). At times we seem to take for granted all that our brain is capable of and what we are able to accomplish with it. It almost seems as though we actually care about the brain more when it isn't working than when it is.

This brings up another reason for my interest in the brain. These disorders of the brain have been widely available in my family. From epilepsy, to brain cancer, to Parkinson's and Alzehiemer's, my family appears to have run the gambit of brain aflictions. These problems and other disorders are some of the most interesting cases of diseases in our world. Nothing is more personal than your own brain turning against you. To be fighting the very thing that is you, I cannot imagine the feeling of watching and experience yourself, lose yourself.

It is the personal nature of the brain, the ready availableness and the constant experience that makes the study of the brain so appealing. The questions of the mind and brain have perplexed some of the most intelligent people in the history of mankind.

What is consciousness?
How do we know others are conscious?
What is language, how do we learn it?
What is learning and how do we store memories?
What is sleep and dreaming for?
How and why do illusions occur?
How is the brain able to adapt itself to injuries?
Can we see thought?
Do we have free will?
How do we think, feel emotions, love, experience pain or sensations?
How can the brain turn against itself with the variety of disorders?
Are certain people doomed to be a certain way because of how their brain is wired?

While the purpose of this is to ask questions, hopefully there may be a smattering of answers. With this blog I'll explore my own experiences and thoughts to reflect on these questions as well as the countless others that are bound to turn up. It is amazing to think that there may exist the possibility that something can figure its very self out. While I may not figure out these questions, it is exciting to be on forefront of experimentation, at the edge of current human knowledge as we look to the abyss that is the mind and boldly take step after step as we continue to search the mind.