In his article, "Mind Games" Jonah Lehrer of the New York Times does something that is somewhat unique. He combines philosophy with science. Specifically he manages to draw a significant connection between a medical condition and philosophy. In doing this, the man has basically merged my two loves into one awesome article. That puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.
Insomnia. Try not to think about insomnia. Don't I sound like Parmenides already? Well, when Parmenides said that it is impossible to think of nothing, he was at the same time harkening to one of the most curious achievements of the human mind. The human mind has the ability to think about itself. For example, while trying not to think about a 3 legged monkey, the brain is at frequent intervals thinking about what it's trying to achieve. Which is to say that while trying not think about 3 legged monkeys, the brain is thinking about itself trying not to think about the darn 3 legged monkey! Furthermore, we can all attest that by this point, for every time I've mentioned a monkey, you have thought about it, seen it and maybe you've even counted the legs. You're seeing tripod monkeys right now! I know I did.
That's insomnia in a nutshell. The more you're concerned with falling asleep, the harder you will find it to do just that. As Lehrer points out, "the worst thing we can do is think about not being able to sleep; the diagnosis exacerbates the disease." This is because our mind has set a goal (to fall asleep), but it constantly checks to see if progress is being made. The result is that your brain goes into a loop of being concerned with the goal, so much so that it keeps you awake. Here's the great part: According to Parmenides philosophy, "non-being" cannot exist, and I'm beginning to think that this has to be connected to the way our brain performs its functions. It constantly checks and re-checks until the job is done. There is no medicinal cure for Insomnia and Lehrer argues that there will never be a cure. His argument is that insomnia plays right into one of the human brain's greatest advantages and turns it into a disadvantage. Well, even if you somehow got rid of the disadvantage, you would lose a whole lot of important functions of the brain with it. Our mind would be like that of a dog; able to fall asleep at any time, but incapable of many things humans can do. If you can stop this biological process, then can you prove that "non-being" exists? So here's what I think: If you can prove that non-being exists, then you will have found the cure for insomnia and disproved Parmenides. Good luck. You'll need it. Your brain is your instrument no matter what way you approach this. Too bad your brain is against you on this one.
Says my friend Sarah, "See, this is the curse you philosophers have!"
P.S. She's a Neuroscience major and I fear that she might be right on this one. There's a biological curse running rampant in beloved Philosophy land.
All excerpts and references to the article "Mind games" were taken from the article found on this page:
Mind Games
By JONAH LEHRER
<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/mind-games/?em>
I love this post!! How true it is that our own mind works against us when we desperately try to control it! I find myself suffering most from insomnia when I'm very tired, and thinking about how many hours of sleep I need. It is at that point that I cannot get to sleep, because I keep thinking about how much I need to sleep. Pathetic, in a way. And you're right, there's no stopping it!
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