Today it’s my pleasure to open the collaborations chapter in this blog with a very special guest blogger; Raul Ojeda, from Alien Ghost, will sound familiar to some of you as a regular presence in the comments section. But if you have not visited his blog yet, do yourself a favor and make sure you enjoy his refined comments and his very acute, sometimes ironic view of life at www.alienghost.com.
_______________________
Thank you Nacho for the honor and the opportunity to be here in this amazing blog! The topic I’d like to talk about is a comparison between the way people and cars operate (or behave).
Loop Mode
In modern cars a computer controls the engine, transmission, suspension, brakes, etc. It does that by receiving information from several sensors located in strategic places throughout the vehicle, and then making decisions based in that information to change the different parameters of operation in every system in the car.
This is the most efficient way to keep optimum performance in any road and weather condition, while taking in consideration the driver’s driving habits and inputs at any given moment.
When a problem develops in a sensor and signals sent become inaccurate, the computer disregard such information and simply takes decisions to control the vehicle based in a pre-established program loaded at the factory, and turn ON the “Check Engine” light to warn the driver that diagnostics and repairs are needed . This procedure is called Loop Mode.
What surprises me is that many people operate in the same way!
Instead of analyzing the situation and the different elements and variables that compose it (taking the information received by the sensors), many people seem to disregard the external information and just react to such situation using instincts (a preset program) rather than thinking and applying logic. In those situations the instincts in a human being would be like the pre-programmed Loop Mode in the car’s computer (human brain).
Some examples:
- Being in a hurry and keeping in mind the objective of reaching the store before it closes, while driving at a too fast speed for safety throughout the parking lot (the instinct of graving what is wanted).
- Reacting violently when a stranger bumps over us when walking in a street (the instinct of self preservation).
- Having another portion of that tasty food, even if we know that it’ll be bad for our health (the instinct of stuffing ourselves whenever the possibility exists).
- Preferring entertainment over learning, even if we know we need to cultivate ourselves (the instinct of following the easiest path).
The problem is, in a vehicle that would be an emergency procedure to keep the vehicle going, even if a problem develops, but not the normal or expected operation.
So it seems that many people are “running” in emergency mode using the pre-established factory program (instincts) rather that the configuration of analysis and decision making based on the information received (thinking); and since in a vehicle it is just a way to keep going but not as efficiently as it could be (and in need of repairs); in people it could mean they are not using the possibilities of their brain, and living in a way of “just keep going”
But in a vehicle we have the “Check Engine” light to warn us of something going wrong. Maybe that check engine light does also exist in the human brain, only it works not by lighting up, but by the way of creating “discomfort” and the sense and feeling that something just doesn’t fit, and maybe that’s why today we can see so many people going into self improvement, relaxation techniques, minimalism, green approaches, etc.
One thing is clear though; if we let ourselves run by instincts rather than decision making based in the accumulated and permanently received information, we are not obtaining all that we could from our running life, and we might end up reaching the junk yard with a mostly wasted useful life.
Is your Check Engine light ON?
Raul
_______________________
Raul Ojeda lives in Colorado, USA, and writes at www.alienghost.com, where he shares his observations about human nature and behavior, focusing mainly in presenting a different perspective to the common elements of everyday life. He is not on any social media, so you may contact him the old fashioned way at his blog.
Related posts:
Me & The Other Me’s
Mind saliva
Is the Internet a lonely place?
Dance to nature’s music: Autumnal Equinox
‘The metaphor that became reality’ for Eden Journal
Hi Raul, and thank you for your post! I really like your car analogy. As for me, I’m afraid my ‘check engine’ led turns on more times than I’d like to remember… I think the capability of gaining distance from the situation one’s in is a sign of mastery, and try to cultivate such distance inch by inch. In a way, following your analogy, I think a human being is like KITT in the sense that you can enter somewhere in the circuit and tell yourself “wait a minute, my check engine light is on, now how do I fix this?”…
Thank you for your collaboration and keep up the good posts!
Nacho Jordi recently posted..Loop Mode Guest Post
Hi Nacho,
Thank you for the opportunity to be here in this amazing blog! As I mentioned before, your posts are very intelligent and educational for anyone who wants to learn more about the human brain and get more out of life by the way of improving the use of its amazing capabilities; so being here and having the opportunity to participate is a pleasure and a honor.
For the post; it is a fact that we tend to create things based on what we know, so it is not strange that a modern car operational procedures are a simple reproduction of the human brain and body; which gives us the opportunity to see things the other way around to learn more about ourselves and our behavior. Sort of learning from our children; even if we raise them, we still can learn a lot about ourselves from them.
Raul
Hi Nacho:
Congrats for opening your collaborations portion of your blog. A new chapter awaits, and what a great way to start — with Raul! Wonderful choice of authors, Raul is one of my favorites. Great to meet you and I look forward to perusing your archives.
Hi Raul:
Outstanding article here. You’re so right about being on loop mode. I seem to see my “check engine light” when certain people in my life appear and the classic buttons get pushed. There’s no reason for my light to flash, so I’m getting better at learning to that in perspective and reshape my reactions.
Thanks for pointing us over here to Nacho’s blog, its a looker! The human brain is absolutely fascinating, I concur. (Also, best of the holiday to you both.)
~xo
Lori recently posted..The Day in Review
Hi Raul, I followed you here from your blog. I like your comparison. I think a majority of the human population is running around with their check engine lights on. I see far to much reaction, and not enough thoughtfulness. This is especially true at this time of year when we should be thankful for all that we have, but instead are in a frantic rush to buy gifts.
Eric | Eden Journal recently posted..Personal Development Campfire – Resolutions
When I saw this post pop up in my RSS reader and it says “by Raul”, I was thinking, “wait, this was filed under the wrong feed”. And then I realized that it was a guest post.
This is a very interesting perspective. I did not know that this is how cars work, but yeah, I am pretty sure that I’ve gone through many parts of my life in loop mode. But at least I think sometimes I do catch myself, when I think back afterwards. After all, I am a computer programmer and tend to look at the world with logic more so than many people. Then at least I am not stuck in the loop mode all the time.
Kelvin Kao recently posted..Ads- Ads- Ads
Congratulations for the interesting post, Raul! I agree humans do act on “preset programs” just as modern cars do, often missing or disregarding importat information about what is really happening around them. However I would not think of this “Autopilot” mode as limited to factory-default instincts.
Unlike cars, humans are able to build their own often ridiculous, coherent models to replace reality with: certain genuine preferences become a habit (i.e. At first you start taking coffee instead of tea because you choose doing so, but with time it becomes a habit. You don´t need to decide about it anymore, you skip the collecting information from your sensors. I doesn`t matter if you feel like drinking it or not or if you feel it will be good for your stomach right now, you will still drink coffee).
That was a tricky example because it is about coffeine, a drug. In my believe it is the same about other kind of preferences and habits, political opinions, ways to proceed, not necessarily instinctive but which replace logical, analytical behaviour. Of course this sometimes is efficient, but sometimes makes us loose contact with reality. Could we say we humans are like ultra inteligent cars which can program themselves into being not-so-inteligent?
Hi Lori, welcome and thanks for coming round! Yes, I’ve always considered myself a lucky guy, and Internet promotes the meeting of good people! I hope you enjoy some of my contents here — please have mercy with this Spanish rookie!
Hi Eric, thanks for coming round. I’m not Raul but I’d like to say that I agree with you about the excess of reaction in people around during these holidays. And I think that the simple fact of gathering our impressions increases that so much needed thoughtfulness; so thanks for sharing
Hi Lori,
Thank you for stopping by and your kind comments
Definitely you have to set some time aside to dig Nacho’s post; not only they are very enlightening, but I personally enjoy his witty sense of humor!
Have a great time this holidays!
Raul
Alien Ghost recently posted..Traveling Ghost
Hi Eric,
Thank you for following the trail
Yes, the rush of holiday shopping is a clear example of following a routine motivated by materialism (motivated by instincts) rather than, as you mention; the thoughtfulness of the real and original meaning of the moment. Not only by the act of buying, but also by the way is the whole process developed.
Raul
Alien Ghost recently posted..Traveling Ghost
Hi Kelvin,
Being a computer programmer and looking at the world with more logic, together with a self analysis afterwards, could be like if the car computer stops and think if following the preprogrammed procedure is practical or not under the specific circumstances, which obviously the computer cannot do, leaving the human brain at a big advantage over its computational creations.
You have a great advantage my friend!
Raul
Alien Ghost recently posted..Traveling Ghost
Hi Jorge de Pablo,
Yes, there are so many ways we can program ourselves in so many activities and ways of perception. From which shoe we tie first, to our opinions on other people’s customs, which can lead to racism and violent behavior. As you say, some are good and necessary in order to simplify life and make our daily activities more efficient, but others definitely create problems that, when looking from the outside, make us look very stupid in our reactions.
Great thing we can program ourselves! Now all we have to do is learn how to do better, more practical and logic programming, and how to change those that are working against us. Fortunately there is a good wealth of information available on how to do that on the net (have you heard of a blog called Zerebria?
)
Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.
Raul
Alien Ghost recently posted..Traveling Ghost