BLOCK 6.0.A
Following the creation of Block 6, I want to begin with the basics.
A digital computer has several essential elements:
The processor — CPU (Central Processing Unit) — executes instructions and performs calculations.
Temporary working memory — RAM (Random Access Memory) — holds information currently being used. Its contents are lost when the computer is switched off.
Persistent storage — such as an SSD (Solid-State Drive) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) — keeps the operating system, programs, and files even when the computer is switched off.
The operating system — OS — is software, such as Windows, that manages the computer’s resources.
Programs contain instructions that the processor executes.
A modem provides a connection to an internet service provider, allowing the computer to communicate through the internet.
We do not know what we do not know. Our understanding rests on the accumulated experiences and information that have shaped us.
THE BIOLOGICAL COMPUTER
The next step in this exploration is to consider another computer: the biological computer.
In the model I am describing, its operating system works through emotions rather than logic alone.
The brain serves as temporary working memory in this comparison. We forget, and memories fade. Less significant information may disappear, while experiences with a strong emotional impact often remain.
There is also what I describe as persistent storage: the “warehouse” introduced in an earlier blog.
Our programs come from what we have accepted, what we have inherited, and what we have experienced throughout our lives.
In this model, there is also a modem. I propose that the pineal gland may serve this role, connecting us to a consciousness extending throughout the universe. This is my hypothesis, rather than an established scientific function of that organ.
Here, a contrast emerges between the two systems.
The digital computer operates through logic and connects to the internet: a network containing the knowledge we have accumulated. But how much of reality does that knowledge explain—1% or 99%? We simply do not know.
The biological computer, as I imagine it, may connect to a consciousness whose limits we do not know, and whose scope exceeds our present understanding.
Yet access and understanding are different things.
A child who does not yet understand the consequences of playing with matches should not be given matches.
I use this as a metaphor for the limits of our present understanding of reality. Before we can responsibly use something, we need to understand what its use may bring.
THE TWO COMPUTERS — A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
To illustrate what I mean by these two computers, I will describe an experience from my own life. Whether they operate independently or depend on each other, I do not know.
Perhaps twenty years ago, I became deeply affected by the slaughter of animals. I imagined a narrow passage and the fear of animals being led to their deaths. That emotional experience led me to stop eating meat.
I also use the word “castle” as a metaphor for my body. Within this castle, many other organisms share our existence. At that time, I believed that this remarkable living factory mainly needed energy—that even rice alone could provide enough for the body to produce whatever else it needed. I mention this as part of my thinking at the time, rather than as an established fact about nutrition.
These two ideas formed the background to the following experience.
While travelling, I ordered spring rolls. They arrived with meat inside. I began reasoning with myself: “It is only this once. It does not mean I am changing my convictions.”
About thirty minutes after arriving home, I became ill and vomited.
My conscious reasoning had accepted an exception, but my body reacted differently. In my interpretation, this illustrates the distinction between the logical computer and the biological computer.
I cannot establish what caused that physical reaction. For me, however, the experience became a personal confirmation of the model I am describing. It is my experience and my interpretation.
