On My Mind

I find the human mind fascinating.  Here are just a few of the questions I’ve been pondering lately.

• At what point in development does a human become aware that he/she is a thinking entity?  Did our newest baby know this before he was born, or has he not actually figured it out yet?

• Does every human being have at least one false memory, a memory that was created entirely in his/her mind and is in actuality completely false?  Perhaps this memory surrounds a true event but the story did not unfold in reality in the way it is remembered.

• If a person stifles a memory, say of abuse or some other traumatic experience, does that memory always break through, or can some stifled memories stay completely stifled forever?

• Are vivid memories always accompanied by strong emotions, as mine seem to be?

• Is, perhaps, strong emotion necessary for creation of a vivid memory?

• At birth a baby’s brain is approximately ¼ its adult size.  What stops the brain from growing even larger than it does?  Is it a matter of space in the skull, or chemical limitations, or …?

• Is there something in the brain, chemically, physically, that accounts for the difference between common sense and intelligence?

• Why does my mind analyze this stuff at midnight?