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Note: This week’s article delves into complex topics, so it might be a bit heavy.

I am deeply interested in unraveling the workings of the human brain and discovering what is actually happening—both in the brain and beyond this biological vessel. I’d like to share some of my interests in this field—the things I am trying to discover for myself as I observe how the brain operates from within, paying attention to how it perceives the world through the senses.

However, I am not learning from books, nor am I memorizing or blindly following what others have said. Blindly believing in other people’s conclusions obstructs the pursuit of truth. Once a conclusion has been accepted, it starts shaping how one observes the world, interfering with the search for answers that may not align with the authority of that conclusion.

1. Discovering what it means when we refer to “reality” outside human interference.

The reality of the world exists beyond human perception. There are things that surpass the scope of our senses. For example, a dog has a system and a nose that allow it to operate in the world of smell much more effectively than we can. A bat uses echolocation to detect objects, and while we also have the potential for this ability—evident in blind individuals who learn echolocation—it is not as advanced as the bat’s. Clearly, the human senses cannot fully perceive the reality of the world as it is in its entirety.

2. Seeing the perceived reality through the senses, and distinguishing between facts and the artificial realities we create (such as digital media).

For a long time, I was confused about labeling what is real and what isn’t. To me, all movies, TV shows, videos, and games were simply fiction, not real. I believed this for most of my life. But I’ve come to realize it’s far more complex, and the confusion arises from how we define “real” and “reality.” There’s the reality of perception, such as seeing a tree outside the window, or observing the spectacular color display of a superhero using his powers on a cinema screen. Then there’s the “reality of thoughts and imagination,” which, though not externally perceived, is still real in the sense that it exists in the brain and creates images and sounds internally.

If find edited videos to be tricky because they blur the lines between these layers of reality. The images on the video screen don’t actually exist; they are just changing pixels. On another level, the brain processes the image and interprets it as though it were the real thing, without perceiving the difference. I might see a face on the screen, but the brain doesn’t question it, even though the actual reality is just a flat screen full of colors.

There’s also the layer created by thought, where it interprets what the eyes see, forming its own judgments of “I agree” or “I disagree”, and all its likes and dislikes. For example, when I watch a heavily edited music video, there are so many layers happening at once, making me wonder which layer of reality is which. Even though I’m looking at a screen, there’s also the reality of the actual moment captured by the camera—like the fact that the person on screen was standing there, saying those things at that time.

The digital world combines these layers, mixes different realities together, and I’m keen to observe and discover how the brain perceives and reacts to them.

3. Exploring whether it’s possible to think without using words.

For the vast majority of my life, when I think, I think in words. An internal monologue runs in sentences, visualizing and contemplating things through language. What I’m interested in exploring is whether it’s possible to bypass the language system while thinking, making the process faster and more efficient. Words don’t describe everything; they often fall short. We might say “tree,” but if you look closely at the tree, it’s far more complex than a single word can capture. The word “green” doesn’t do justice to the full spectrum of shades and colors our eyes perceive when observing any tree. Words are limited in their expression, and quite logically, this limitation of words not being able to fully describe reality limits the thinking process.

Moreover, using words takes time, which slows down the thinking process. When I try to think about something, processing it through words makes it slower because the brain needs to finish one sentence or thought before moving on to the next. This is obvious. So, I wonder: is it possible to bypass words entirely? Some suggest thinking in images, where you simply “see” what words would normally describe. But I haven’t yet explored what this non-verbal thinking process would entail. It’s a fairly recent question I asked myself: can I think without using words?

4. Finding out what we truly are—not what we think or conclude ourselves to be.

People through forming religions, philosophies and any other spiritual organizations have tried to answer this question of what we are, each offering its own narrative of the world, our origins, and our relationship with it. Perhaps because I am not attached to any particular ideology or group, I find myself driven by curiosity, not discouraged by the opinions of what someone might say, to discover the answers to these questions for myself.

There are, of course, many other things I’m investigating (some of which include: where and what is the center of the “me,” what the phenomenon of emotions is, and how it relates to the “center of the self” and influences the brain’s processes), but sharing them all would make this article too long. I try to keep it around a three-minute read each time. (If you’re curious about something specific, please let me know.)

When do I find time for all this? Every moment. These topics relate to living itself, and the brain is always at work, so I observe what’s happening in my brain as it operates in any given moment.